Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster: The Story of the World's Most Iconic Guitars 9780760370100, 9780760370117

Table of contents :
Cover
Title
Copyright
CONTENTS
Introduction
PART I: LEO AND THE ORIGIN OF FENDER
PART II: THE TELECASTER
History of the Telecaster
Telecaster Tone and Construction
Artist Profiles
Jimmy Bryant
Paul Burlison
James Burton
Luther Perkins
Muddy Waters
Albert Collins
Steve Cropper
Michael Bloomfield
Roy Buchanan
Waylon Jennings
Roy Nichols & Merle Haggard
Buck Owens & Don Rich
Clarence White
Jimmy Page
Syd Barrett
Keith Richards
Wilko Johnson
Bill Kirchen
Mike Campbell
Bruce Springsteen
Joe Strummer
Andy Summers
Danny Gatton
Redd Volkaert
Pete Anderson
Jerry Donahue
Chrissie Hynde
Jim Campilongo
Marty Stuart
Bill Frisell
Vince Gill
D. Boon
G.E. Smith
Brent Mason
Duke Levine
Frank Black (a.k.a. Black Francis)
Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke
Graham Coxon
John 5
Brad Paisley
PART III: THE STRATOCASTER
History of the Stratocaster
Stratocaster Tone and Construction
Artist Profiles
Bill Carson
Eldon Shamblin
Pee Wee Crayton
Mary Kaye
Ike Turner
Buddy Guy
Buddy Holly
Dick Dale
The Ventures
Hank Marvin
Jimi Hendrix
Eric Clapton
George Harrison
Jeff Beck
Ritchie Blackmore
David Gilmour
Rory Gallagher
Robbie Robertson
Wayne Kramer
Lowell George
Randy Bachman
Ronnie Wood
Robin Trower
Dave Murray
Bonnie Raitt
Mark Knopfler
Yngwie Malmsteen
Richard Thompson
Nils Lofgren
Jimmie Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Eric Johnson
Robert Cray
The Edge
John Mayer
Sonny Landreth
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z
About the Author

Citation preview

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 1 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 1

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 1

16/7/20 4:58 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 2 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 2

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 2

16/7/20 4:58 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

FENDER

TELECASTER & STRATOCASTER THE STORY OF THE WORLD’S MOST ICONIC GUITARS

by Dave Hunter

Introduction by Tony Bacon

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 3 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 3

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 3

16/7/20 4:58 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

© 2020 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc. Text © 2012, 2013 Dave Hunter First Published in 2020 by Voyageur Press, an imprint of The Quarto Group, 100 Cummings Center, Suite 265-D, Beverly, MA 01915, USA. T (978) 282-9590 F (978) 283-2742 QuartoKnows.com The content in this book previously appeared in The Fender Telecaster by Dave Hunter (Voyageur Press, 2012) and The Fender Stratocaster by Dave Hunter (Voyageur Press, 2013). All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned, and no responsibility is accepted by producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied. We apologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurred and will resolve inaccurate or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book. Voyageur Press titles are also available at discount for retail, wholesale, promotional, and bulk purchase. For details, contact the Special Sales Manager by email at [email protected] or by mail at The Quarto Group, Attn: Special Sales Manager, 100 Cummings Center, Suite 265-D, Beverly, MA 01915, USA. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN: 978-0-7603-7010-0 Digital edition published in 2020 eISBN: 978-0-7603-7011-7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. Design and page layout: Tango Media Publishing Services, LLC All photographs are from the collection of Voyageur Press unless otherwise noted. This publication has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. Fender®, Stratocaster®, Esquire®, Telecaster®, Broadcaster®, Nocaster®, and the distinctive headstock designs commonly found on those guitars are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and used herein with express written permission. We recognize, further, that some words, model names, and designations mentioned herein are the property of the trademark holder. We use them for identification purposes only. This is not an official publication. Printed in China FRONT COVER: (left) 1950 Broadcaster. Steve Catlin/Redferns/Getty Images; (right) 1954 Stratocaster. Chicago Music Exchange (www.chicagomusicexchange.com) FRONTIS: A well-traveled case with a jewel inside. Chicago Music Exchange (www.chicagomusicexchange.com) TITLE PAGE: Muddy Waters holds his red Telecaster at a concert in Denmark in 1970. Jan Persson/Redferns/Getty Images BACK COVER: (left) 1960 Custom Telecaster. Fretted Americana; (middle) 1965 Stratocasters in blue, red, gold, and charcoal. Rumble Seat Music; (right) Early whiteguard 1954 Telecaster. Guitar courtesy of Elderly Instruments/Photo Dave Matchette

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 4 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 4

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 4

16/7/20 4:58 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 5 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 5

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 5

16/7/20 4:58 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

CONTENTS Introduction by Tony Bacon • 9

PART I: LEO AND THE ORIGIN OF FENDER • 19 PART II: THE TELECASTER • 35 History of the Telecaster • 37 Telecaster Tone and Construction • 131 Artist Profiles Jimmy Bryant • 52

120 • Joe Strummer

Paul Burlison • 54

124 • Andy Summers

James Burton • 56

126 • Danny Gatton

Luther Perkins • 64

134 • Redd Volkaert

Muddy Waters • 68

138 • Pete Anderson

Albert Collins • 74

140 • Jerry Donahue

Steve Cropper • 76

144 • Chrissie Hynde

Michael Bloomfield • 78 Roy Buchanan • 81

148 • Jim Campilongo 150 • Marty Stuart

Waylon Jennings • 82

151 • Bill Frisell

Roy Nichols & Merle Haggard • 86

152 • Vince Gill

Buck Owens & Don Rich • 88 Clarence White • 94

160 • Brent Mason

Syd Barrett • 100

161 • Duke Levine

Keith Richards • 106

162 • Frank Black (a.k.a. Black Francis)

Wilko Johnson • 108

164 • Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke

Mike Campbell • 114 Bruce Springsteen • 116

Text

159 • G.E. Smith

Jimmy Page • 98

Bill Kirchen • 112

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 6 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 6

156 • D. Boon

170 • Graham Coxon 171 • John 5 176 • Brad Paisley

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 6

16/7/20 4:58 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

PART III: THE STRATOCASTER • 181 History of the Stratocaster • 183 Stratocaster Tone and Construction • 281 Artist Profiles Bill Carson • 198

256 • Wayne Kramer

Eldon Shamblin • 200

258 • Lowell George

Pee Wee Crayton • 202

260 • Randy Bachman

Mary Kaye • 204

266 • Ronnie Wood

Ike Turner • 208

268 • Robin Trower

Buddy Guy • 210

270 • Dave Murray

Buddy Holly • 214

271 • Bonnie Raitt

Dick Dale • 220

272 • Mark Knopfler

The Ventures • 222

274 • Yngwie Malmsteen

Hank Marvin • 224

278 • Richard Thompson

Jimi Hendrix • 228

286 • Nils Lofgren

Eric Clapton • 232

288 • Jimmie Vaughan

George Harrison • 238 Jeff Beck • 240 Ritchie Blackmore • 242

290 • Stevie Ray Vaughan 294 • Eric Johnson 304 • Robert Cray

David Gilmour • 250

306 • The Edge

Rory Gallagher • 252

308 • John Mayer

Robbie Robertson • 254

310 • Sonny Landreth

Index • 312 About the Author • 320

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 7 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 7

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 7

16/7/20 4:58 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Custom Shop 51 Relic Nocaster in Lake Placid Blue. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 8 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 8

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 8

16/7/20 4:58 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

INTRODUCTION

WHEN LEO FENDER WAS INDUCTED INTO the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 alongside Jimi

Hendrix and Johnny Cash, Keith Richards was there at the podium to speak on behalf of Leo, who had died less than a year earlier. “He gave us the weapons,” Keith told a hushed gathering at the Hall of Fame. It was a thoughtful, concise tribute. Without the principal Fender weapons—known more prosaically as the Fender Telecaster and the Fender Stratocaster electric guitars—music would sound very different. It all started way back in the forties, when Leo Fender moved on from an early collaboration with a guitarist, Doc Kauffman. The pair had started a modest company in Fullerton in Orange County, California, called K&F (Kauffman & Fender), and they made electric lap-steel guitars and small amplifiers in the back of Leo’s radio store. Doc soon decided he’d had enough, but the undaunted Leo pressed on, setting up a new firm in 1946, at first called Fender Manufacturing and renamed the Fender Electric Instrument Co. toward the end of 1947. Leo’s revived operation continued to make lap-steels and amps, and gradually over the following years, into the early fifties, he gathered around him a capable and enterprising team: Don Randall as sales boss, Forrest White to organize the factory, and Freddie Tavares, who helped guide the development of new models. In 1950, the new Fender company launched the world’s first commercial solid-body electric guitar, at first named the Fender Esquire and then the Fender Broadcaster. It was renamed the Fender Telecaster in 1951—almost everyone calls it simply the Tele. Three years later, Fender completed its remarkable brace of original electrics with the introduction of the Fender Stratocaster guitar—better known as the Strat.

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 9 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 9

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 9

16/7/20 4:58 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The new company ignored the contemporary conventions of

’50s. It’s a classic that is about as simple as a solid-body guitar

guitar production and did not care for the way long-established

can be. And it occupies a unique position in history as the oldest

guitar makers such as Gibson would hand-carve selected tim-

solid-body electric guitar model still in regular production—

bers. Instead, the fresh-faced Fender operation relied on factory

which is hardly surprising, because it was the first.

methods to manufacture its radical solid-body electric guitars,

Back at the time of the Telecaster’s birth, before anyone

stripping down the products to their essential elements, putting

had even thought about rock ’n’ roll, Fender had come up with

them together from easily assembled parts, and selling their gui-

the first commercial solidbody electric. It was uncluttered and

tars (and amps) at relatively affordable prices.

plain-speaking, and those qualities remain today at the heart of

The firm’s methods made for easier, consistent production—

the Tele’s appeal. It still has that dry bite and twangy, cutting

and in the process, gave its instruments a different sound. Not

punch that so many great and almost-great players

for Fender the woody Gibson-style jazz tone,

have learned to love and continue to relish. The

but instead a clearer, spikier sound, some-

Telecaster is an unfussy, honest, playable guitar.

thing like a cross between a clean acoustic

But the original-design Telecaster and

guitar and a cutting electric lap steel. It

Stratocaster have not been alone in the Fender

wasn’t long before that sound would be heard

lines. Over the years, Fender has offered many

ringing out around the world.

alternatives, exploiting these willing testbeds

And it wasn’t long before Fender intro-

that seem to accept whatever their creator

duced additional models to its lines, including

might throw at them, no matter how far

the cheaper “student” Musicmaster and

the result might be from the basic template.

Duo-Sonic (1956) and Mustang (1964),

Sometimes, modification has involved adding

the offset-waist Jazzmaster (1958), and the

a humbucking pickup or two—even though

high-end Jaguar (1962). As the firm grew in

that’s enough to make some purists wince.

confidence, the original Teles and Strats, and to a lesser extent,

More pickup updates have appeared in recent years, and over

some of these newer models, began to attract more and more

time Fender has introduced colorful custom finishes, gold-plated

guitar players. And alongside all this, amplifiers remained a back-

metalwork options, control modifications, twelve-string ver-

bone of Fender’s product lines and would prove as important to

sions, signature models, synthesizer hookups, and plenty more

its success as the solid-body guitars and basses.

besides. Yet for some players, it’s still the classic originals that

Since the company’s beginnings, most major guitarists have played a Fender at some time during their life. Some have built

deliver exactly what they’re looking and listening and feeling for, many decades since the instruments were first designed.

entire careers playing Fenders. Muddy Waters regularly played a

The twenty-first century Fender is serious about recreating

’57 Tele through most of his life and times, and an interviewer

those originals. In the early eighties, when the firm’s bosses first

asked him later how he’d managed to rely more or less on a single

considered reissuing vintage-style guitars, the company had no

instrument. “What would I look like with two or three guitars

collection of original instruments that they could study to help

like these kids?” Muddy said to Guitar Player, probably with one

get the details right. So they paid a visit to a vintage guitar dealer,

of his twinkly smiles. “I don’t need to be bothered with that. I got

and there they carefully examined some old Fenders, taking mea-

my one old guitar.”

surements, making paint tests, snapping photographs. And at the FFF

end of a long day, they bought some vintage Fenders. That’s cor-

The Telecaster in its original design has remained more or less

rect—Fender had little choice but to buy back its own product.

unchanged in the Fender line since its launch at the start of the

The result is that, today, players can get as close as they dare in a

10 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 10 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 10

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 10

16/7/20 4:58 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

2009 limited-edition 1958 Candy Apple Red Stratocaster with goldanodized pickguard. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 11 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 11

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 11

16/7/20 4:58 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

gun. “I could really hit a target with that old rifle,” Leo told the Washington Post. “One time, I got a jack rabbit at better than 300 yards. You see, some pieces of machinery just suit people.” Leo loved gadgets, and it’s not too hard to imagine that if, somehow, he could come back for a tour of Fender’s current American factory, he would adore it. The company had started life at its home in Fullerton, moving in 1953 to a three-and-a-half acre plot where it put up three new buildings. Gradually Fender expanded, and by 1964 it employed more than six hundred people there, spread over twenty-nine buildings. At that time, the huge CBS corporation was on a mission to scoop up any broadly entertainment-based company that caught its acquisitive eye. In January 1965, CBS bought Fender in a deal worth $13 million. Under the new owner, Fender sales increased and profits went up, but Leo and most of the old guard soon left, and gradually it seemed to some players that the guitars and the amps were not like they used to be. That trend continued into the seventies, and in 1985 CBS sold Fender to the company’s existing management team. Fender Japan, set up a few years earlier, became the sole supplier of instruments for a while, because the Dr. Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson’s Stratocaster and 1962 Telecaster in his trademark black-and-red color scheme. Kevin Nixon/Guitarist Magazine/Getty Images

Fullerton factories were not included in the deal. But a new US factory was soon established in Corona, about twenty miles east of the defunct Fullerton site, and a few years later a second factory was added just across the

new instrument to the curious voodoo that is a real live vintage Fender. Someone asked Leo Fender in the seventies why he thought players had started seeking out old Fenders, which had come to be known as vintage

border in Ensenada, Mexico. Fender guitars continue to be made in Corona and Ensenada today, and through the years the company has also manufactured in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Korea. FFF

guitars. He said he understood that

Back in the day, Leo and his team were

people liked the early stuff—gui-

always looking out for what tomor-

tars that were gradually creeping

row might bring. In fact, he thought

up in value, too—and he compared the phenomenon to the way he felt about his trusty Remington

2013 Custom Shop 1956 Candy Tangerine Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

12 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 12 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 12

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 12

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

that when the Stratocaster was launched it would replace the Telecaster—because it was better and newer. We know better

For the dyed-in-the-wool Fender fan or the newbie who’s just discovered their first example, it can be comforting to dis-

now, of course. And it’s a constant source of delight and won-

cover they’re in good company. Among the great players

der to see Fender’s dynamic duo turning up in all manner

through the decades who have found themselves at ease

of new music. The Strat is as versatile as a player needs it

with a Tele or a Strat, some names loom larger than oth-

to be, and you’ll see it in almost as many settings as there

ers. We might mention Eric Clapton, Steve Cropper, Bob

are genres of music. The Tele, too, can go way beyond

Dylan, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly,

the chicken-pickin’ and country-inflected beauty that

Mark Knopfler, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, Andy

for some players passes as the regular Tele fare. On its launch in ’54, the Strat was the first solidbody electric with three pickups, it had a new built-in vibrato

Summers, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. We could go on. And on. It would probably be easier to list those who haven’t played one.

bridge, and its radically sleek solid body was contoured

Leo Fender’s favorite music was said to be that made by

for the player’s comfort. It became the most popular, the

old-fashioned Western singing groups like the Sons of the

most copied, the most desired, and very probably the most

Pioneers. So it’s unlikely he would have had much time for

played solid electric guitar ever. As for the Tele, it can offer

Jonathan Richman. But Jonathan is one of the few songwrit-

a welcome oasis of direct simplicity for guitarists who have

ers to have written a song about a specific guitar. The song

braved the heat and sweat of the latest gimmicks and hip

is “Fender Stratocaster” on an album from 1989. Jonathan

gadgetry. Relaxing instead with a fifties-style Tele, they

Richman was too smart to get bogged down in the origins

might just wonder what all the fuss is about with this mod-

of the Stratocaster name when he wrote that song. Don

ern stacked humbucker, say, or that new-fangled modeling

Randall, who headed up Fender’s early sales efforts, named

amp or stomp box.

most of the early Fender models, and he told me that when

Just take a look at one of those original Teles for a moment. Yes, it has a body and it has a neck. And yes, there are some pickups and some knobs. But

it came to the Strat, his fifties’ mind turned to the stratosphere and the dawning space age. Don was a keen pilot, too, so he’d

there’s not much more—and nothing

almost certainly noticed that Boeing was

less. Take a look at a couple more gui-

calling its B-47 jet bomber the Stratojet.

tars: here, an old Stratocaster from the

He’d probably seen that Pontiac had a

guitar’s earliest years in the ’50s; over

new car called the Strato-Streak, too.

there a brand new twenty-first-century

And he went to all the instrument trade

Strat, maybe a starter guitar with Fender’s

shows of the era, so he must have sniffed

budget Squier brand, or perhaps one of

around the Harmony booth and seen the

the lofty high-end wonder machines made in the firm’s Custom Shop. You

Chicago brand’s new Stratotone electric. Nothing comes from nowhere.

might be forgiven for thinking that nothing much has changed in the decades between their origins. And you’d be right and you’d be wrong, both at the same time.

1952 Telecaster. Steve Catlin/ Redferns/Getty Images

FFF

I N T R O D U C T I O N • 13

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 13 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 13

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 13

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

David Gilmour’s view is that the Fender Stratocaster is the most versatile guitar ever made. He reckons it has a funny way of making players sound like themselves. Assuming they are content with how they sound, this is another decisive advantage. David was one of the performers at a show Fender staged in 2004 at London’s Wembley Arena to celebrate the Strat’s fiftieth birthday. It was quite a moment when he came on with one of his best-known Stratocasters, a first-year 1954 model that bore the serial number 0001. It wasn’t actually the first one made, but that didn’t stop it selling at auction in 2019 for a little short of $2,000,000. David had no trouble at all making his storied instrument sound wonderful at that Wembley celebration. There it was, clear as a bell—fifty years of the Stratocaster before everyone’s eyes and ears. Today, the Strat and the Tele are in their seventh decades, at a time when the Fender company is celebrating its seventy-fifth birthday. Both instruments and the company itself show little signs of old age. Another pair of sprightly old guys pushing well into their seventies are Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Jeff Beck is prone to nostalgia when he thinks about the Strat, which he blames for his early conversion to the power of rock music. “The reason I left school was because of that guitar,” he told me. “I mean, that is brain damage when you’re a kid of fourteen and you see something like that. It’s just a piece of equipment that you dream about touching, never mind owning. “The first day I stood looking at one in one of those London shops, I just went into a trance— and I got the wrong bus home, just dreaming about it. You know? It just blew my brains apart, and it’s never been any different since,” Jeff concluded. “It’s taken me all round the world and given me everything I’ve got—just that Strat, really. So it is a particular favorite of mine.” I once asked Jimmy Page about pulling out his old Telecaster to play the solo on “Stairway to Heaven” at a time when he was much more inclined to use his beloved Gibson Les Paul. “People say why did you do that, and . . . I don’t know,” Jimmy admitted, with a laugh. “There was no particular reason other than: that’s what I did. It’s funny, isn’t it?” Well, it was a long time ago. But sometimes it just has to be a Tele—or a Strat—or both. Back at that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame event in 1992, Leo Fender’s second wife, Phyllis, was there for him. “When I accepted his award, I said that Leo truly believed that musicians were special angels, special envoys from the Lord,” she recalled. “He believed he was put here to make the very best instruments in the world, because these special angels would help us get through this life, would ease our pain and ease our sadness, and help us celebrate.” —Tony Bacon Bristol, England, March 2020

David Gilmour’s 1954 Stratocaster guitar, serial number 0001. Outline Press Ltd.

14 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 14 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 14

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 14

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Custom Shop 60th Anniversary Telecaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 15 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 15

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 15

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 16 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 16

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 16

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

2007 George Fullerton 1957 Stratocaster with matching Pro Junior amp. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 17 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 17

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 17

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

B.B. King poses for a promotional portrait in Memphis, Tennessee, circa 1950, holding his black-guard Esquire. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 18 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 18

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 18

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

PART I

LEO AND THE ORIGIN OF FENDER WHAT A FEELING, to live in an age when simple old rock ’n’ roll seemed at the forefront of a cultural

revolution, and a curvaceous new solidbody electric guitar with unprecedented features seemed about as radical a work of design-art as could be imagined. We like to think that things move fast in our current age. Certainly iProgress, and the consumer products that go hand in hand with it, has ramped up to a heady pace. And yet, briefly consider how fast things were moving in an earlier age—a predigital, pre-“information” age, sure, but one in which an early–Cold War Western world was jogging swiftly toward a level of technical innovation in everyday life that was staggeringly advanced over what was known just a couple of decades before. Now apply that to the world that is of immediate concern to us—which is to say, guitarists and fans of guitar history—and the mid-twentieth century really does appear to have been the dawn of a brave new world, and one in which the advances in how we made music came on fast and furious. Any in-depth look at the history of the Fender company is really an exploration of mid-century American history from several perspectives. It traces the birth of an industry that was truly in its infancy, which in itself is fascinating, with roots not only in the early years of the electric guitar market, but also in the dawn of amplification itself, and the front edge of a wave in consumer electronics that continues to curl to this day. Even beyond this, though, any such study inevitably plumbs a field that, more than any

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 19 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 19

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 19

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Left: Leo Fender at his drafting table in his later years. Robert Perine, ©FMIC Below: The Fender factory on Santa Fe Avenue in Fullerton, California, circa 1950.

other developing industry or technology, was one in which

study accounting. Although he continued to improve his skills

technological progress—the evolution of the product—directly

with radios and amplifiers throughout that two-year accounting

influenced the art itself, and, therefore, the national and interna-

course, he took no formal training in electronics.

tional culture. The early history of Fender and its most famous

While working as a bookkeeper in the early thirties, Fender

guitars is inextricably entwined with a major shift in the ways and

was asked to build a PA system for a local band, and the ful-

means of popular music, and even if that music would seem to

fillment of that request proved the first step in a small side-line

sound very different today than it did seventy years ago, it is still

that found him building, then renting out and maintaining,

rolling forward in the same direction, set in motion by the same

as many as half a dozen PA systems that were used for musical

initial force.

performances, baseball games, and other events around Orange County and the environs surrounding Los Angeles. He married

LEO’S EARLY YEARS

his first wife, Esther, in 1934, and the couple moved to San Luis

Clarence Leonidas “Leo” Fender was born in 1909 on his par-

Obispo, California, for another job in accounting. After he lost

ents’ orange grove in what was then the bountiful farmland

what would be the last of a series of accounting positions in 1938,

that stretched between Anaheim and Fullerton, California. He

Leo and Esther returned to Fullerton, and he borrowed six hun-

attended the local public schools throughout his childhood, and

dred dollars to open his own store, Fender’s Radio Service. The

he began tinkering with radios and electronics in his early teens,

shop sold records, radios, and record players—as well as servicing

as well as working with tools and mechanics in general while

the latter two—but soon the musicians who frequented the place

helping out on the family farm. It is widely reported that Fender

began to bring in instruments and amplifiers for repair, and were

was not a guitarist himself, although he showed an interest in

eventually asking him to build amps and PAs, too.

music from a fairly early age, learned to play the piano and the

In the course of this work, Fender quickly showed a knack

saxophone, and even built an acoustic guitar at the age of six-

for discerning the flaws in the circuits and construction of many

teen. Fender graduated from Fullerton Union High School in

of the amps made by others, and, in addition to repairing them,

1928 (coincidentally the same year the first AC vacuum tubes

avoiding these pitfalls in the amps he would produce himself. As

were issued, making amplifier design and construction much eas-

he told Guitar Player magazine in 1971, “Originally my work was

ier), and went on to Fullerton Junior College later that year to

design, modification, repair, and custom building. This gave me

20 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 20 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 20

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 20

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

a wide acquaintance with competitive products and users’ needs.

however, as the shortages of the war years forced him to work

Since my work encompassed more than musical equipments, I

with scavenged parts and leftover scraps. The situation might

knew of benefits I could apply to the musicians’ gear. I guess you

have slowed his development in some ways, as it did that of

would say the objectives were durability, performance, and tone.”

established guitar and amplifier makers, who largely shut down

Clearly, Fender also enjoyed hanging out, chatting, and

production for the war effort, but being a small operator also

exchanging ideas with the musicians who frequented Fender’s

allowed Fender to fulfill a demand that existed in the market, war

Radio Service, and in so doing, he developed another of his great

or no war. Fender progressed his notion of the business through

skills: the ability to take on outside input and constructive crit-

the early forties and into the middle of the decade and moved fur-

icism from players “in the trenches” and to use it in the upward

ther toward the idea of manufacturing and away from radio sales

evolution of his own designs. The effort became more difficult,

and repairs. “I liked developing new items that people needed. Working with tools and equipment was more to my liking than retail sales,” he said (Guitar Player, 1971). By this time, it seemed to make sense to take on a knowledgeable partner, and to formally establish a presence in the musical instrument industry. THE BIRTH, AND SHORT LIFE, OF K&F One of the musicians who wandered into Fender’s Radio Service in the early forties was Clayton Orr “Doc” Kauffman, and, while discussing some instrument pickups that Fender had on display in his shop window, the pair revealed a mutual inclination for inventing and developing electronic gadgets. Although Kauffman’s association with Fender would be relatively brief, the men’s early work together sowed the seeds for the eventual bombshell that Leo could barely have foreseen at the time. Still involved in the radio and phonograph business, the pair developed a precision 45-RPM record changer and sold the rights to the design for $5,000, a sum that would provide seed money for their own manufacturing efforts. Perhaps more foretelling of things to come, however, was the patent application filed in 1944 for a strings-through-coil pickup design

Above: The 1944 patent drawing for Leo Fender’s early electric lap steel.

that Fender and Kauffman had begun developing

P A R T I : L E O A N D T H E O R I G I N O F F E N D E R • 21

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 21 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 21

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 21

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The construction of early Fender lap steel guitars in the 1940s led the way to building solid-body “Spanish” electric guitars. Left: 1955 Fender Champion model lap steel electric guitar; right: 1952 Fender Student model lap steel electric guitar. Outline Press Ltd.

22 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 22 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 22

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 22

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

in 1943. Eventually granted on December 7, 1948, the patent

else that was already on the scene. Leo’s goals of durability, ease

shows the pickup mounted to an instrument that appears much

of maintenance, and ease of manufacture would be transported

like an early lap-steel guitar, but which, in fact, carries a thin-

from the amp line to the guitars, but the sonic goals of “per-

ner, narrower neck intended to be played in the conventional

formance and tone” would be more directly derived from the

upright (or “Spanish”) style. It shows, in fact, the first non-Ha-

input of musicians who primarily played “hillbilly” and Western

waiian solidbody electric guitar that Leo Fender built, along with

Swing. They wanted instruments that were bright, firm, punchy,

Kauffman, an instrument now on display in Roy Acuff ’s museum

and feedback-resistant, and Fender already knew how to deliver,

at Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee.

even before the Broadcaster hit the scene. Essentially, Fender

Kauffman and Fender formed K&F Manufacturing

guitars were not designed to sound like amplified versions of tra-

Corporation and, during the course of 1945, produced six dif-

ditional guitars, but to be very much an evolution of the existing

ferent models of lap steel (Hawaiian) electric guitars, and three

Hawaiian lap steel guitars—which displayed these characteris-

amplifiers, which were paired in sets aimed at students, novices,

tics in abundance—that could be played fretted in the “upright”

and professional players. All was apparently rather promising,

Spanish style, in standard tuning.

but any major success was still unforeseen beyond the horizon.

As a result, while more traditional makers such as Gibson,

Kauffman’s fear of the risks involved in expanding the business

Epiphone, Gretsch, and a few others already had the template

led him to trade his share of the company to Fender late in 1945

for the electric guitar in hand in the form of their existing arch-

in exchange for a punch press. Now active as sole proprietor,

top acoustic guitars, and approached the task mainly from the

Leo established Fender Electric Instrument Company in 1946,

perspective of amplifying these, Leo went at it tone-first, aban-

and carried on in much the same manner as he and Kauffman

doning all preconceptions of the form and designing his guitar

had, building lap steel electrics and the amplifiers they were

from the ground up. He already knew the sound and how to get

played through.

it; he just needed a playable and visually acceptable instrument

The latter were particularly successful—or relatively so, given

to produce it.

the Fender company’s modest means at the time—on a scene where that technology might have seemed to be lagging behind

FENDER’S—AND THE WORLD’S—

the musical times. Leo Fender’s vast experience in repairing com-

FIRST PRODUCTION SOLIDBODY

mercial radios and related products gave him great insight into

Leo nailed the “playable” part of the equation in 1950 with

both the virtues and flaws in many such designs, which he applied

the release of a guitar that was briefly called the Esquire, then

to his designs for musical instrument amplifiers. As a result, as

Broadcaster, and eventually and forever after, Telecaster (the

young as his company was, Fender amps were generally sturdier

name that will be used here for ease of reference). From the start

and more roadworthy than almost anything else on the market

of the Telecaster’s production, players lauded the fast, comfort-

by the late 1940s and yielded volume levels and a quality of tone

able feel and easy playability of Fender’s guitar necks, and this

that were equally elevated. His stated belief was that a product

characteristic would form a significant component of their repu-

that would be easy to repair would also be easier to manufacture;

tation going forward. As for the “visually acceptable” component,

the tone factor relied upon how you put those low-maintenance

well, that wasn’t quite there yet, in many people’s view at least.

ingredients together.

(For a detailed history on the development of the Telecaster, see

If the amps arguably proved Leo’s greatest early success, his

page 37.)

formative years of building lap steel guitars and learning from the

Today the Telecaster is considered an undeniable classic, an

musicians who played them would be crucial in helping to dis-

iconic piece of midcentury-modern guitar design, so elegant in

tinguish Fender’s eventual electric Spanish guitars from anything

its simplicity that it’s hard to conceive of it causing any offense.

P A R T I : L E O A N D T H E O R I G I N O F F E N D E R • 23

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 23 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 23

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 23

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The first prototype of the Esquire was believed completed in 1949. The early production Esquires from 1950 did not have truss rods; they were added late that year. By 1952, when this Telecaster was made, the features of Fender’s solidbody electric were set. Fretted Americana

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 24 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 24

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 24

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

An unknown country western band from the early 1950s poses for a publicity photo with their tripleneck Fender pedal steel and early Telecaster.

When they first set out to get the Telecaster into the guitar stores, though, Fender’s salesmen encountered some resistance from players and merchants who derided it as a “plank,” a “canoe paddle,” and worse. In short, the Tele was far from traditional, but that was exactly the point. For forward-looking players in search of a much-needed new tool to play a sonically demanding new form of music, the Tele fit the bill exactly. In 1984, Leo Fender told Guitar Player magazine of taking a guitar, early in the new solidbody’s existence, to the Riverside Rancho Dance Hall in Riverside, California, for

ONGOING EXPANSION

up-and-coming country virtuoso Jimmy Bryant to check out.

Having started out in 1939 in the back of the original Fender’s

Bryant took it up on stage with Little Jimmy Dickens and his

Radio Service premises, at 107 and then 112 South Spadra in

band and started playing, and, as Leo told it, “Pretty soon the

Fullerton (a road that is now called Harbor Boulevard), Fender

band stopped, everybody on the dance floor stopped, and they

was setting up in two purpose-built corrugated metal buildings

all gathered around Jimmy when he played.” If the solid-body

on Santa Fe Avenue by 1946, around the time of the establish-

electric guitar is “old hat” now—a thing that we feel has always

ment of the Fender Electric Instrument Company. A few years

been with us—this window into one of the new creation’s first

later, even before the Esquire/Broadcaster was ready for the

public appearances in 1950 hints at just how revolutionary it must

market, Fender was feeling cramped, and had a third building—

have appeared and sounded. Clear, bright, cutting, sustaining,

this time a sturdy brick construction with a flat roof—built on

and feedback-free at higher volumes, Fender’s guitar was exactly

the adjacent lot at the corner of Santa Fe Avenue and South

what Bryant had been looking for and soon proved to be the

Pomona Street.

sharpest tool in the box for plenty of other players besides. The

Just three years after, even these three buildings would prove

simple fact was, plank or not, this thing boasted qualities that

insufficient to contain the steadily expanding company. In late

the hollow-body archtop electrics by Gibson, Epiphone, and so

1953, Fender moved lock, stock, and barrel to a new premises

many others just couldn’t claim for themselves, and it established

at 500 South Raymond in Fullerton with four adjacent cinder-

that essence known as “the Fender sound,” defined by a sonic

block buildings and plenty of vacant land around it, which would

personality that Leo would seek to repeat in all his guitars.

be used for the company’s steady further expansion in the years

Despite early nay-sayers, the Fender brand was more and

that followed. Before the end of the decade, four more buildings

more in the sites of Spanish-style guitarists on the Western scene,

would be constructed on that land, providing Fender with more

and Leo was priming the rig to lure in even those who weren’t

than fifty thousand square feet to work with throughout the facil-

entirely enamored of the first solidbody out of the gates.

ity as a whole.

P A R T I : L E O A N D T H E O R I G I N O F F E N D E R • 25

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 25 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 25

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 25

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

REACHING FOR THE

A few months before this move, in June of 1953, having outgrown

STRATOSPHERE

the distribution services of the Radio

Whether spurred on in the face of the com-

and Television Equipment Company

petition from makers like Gibson and Gretsch

(RTEC), Fender Electric Instrument

or encouraged by the guitar world’s increas-

Company set up its own distribution

ingly warm reception of the solidbody with

and sales arm. This new independent

this proliferation from some better-established

company, Fender Sales, Inc., was ini-

makers, Fender went from strength to strength

tially owned in equal partnership by

through the mid-fifties and on toward the end

Leo Fender, Don Randall (general

of the decade. An uncontested Fender first, the

manager of RTEC), Charlie Hayes

Precision Bass, had been released in 1951 to wide

(RTEC salesman), and RTEC’s

acclaim, and thus helped to bolster the company’s

owner Francis Hall, and for the most part, it simply

profile with musicians in general. Then in 1954,

brought key Fender-related RTEC personnel into the operation to

the unveiling of the revolutionary Fender Stratocaster—a guitar

affect a smooth transition. Hall, however, also purchased Electro

that would become the most widely emulated solid-body design

String Instrument Corporation from Adolph Rickenbacker later

over the next half a century—gave the Telecaster an exciting sta-

in 1953, a move with obvious potential for conflict. After the

blemate, and helped to ensure that Fender was here to stay. (For

death of Charlie Hayes in a car accident in 1955, Fender and

a detailed history on the development of the Stratocaster, see

Randall bought out Hall’s share in Fender Sales, thus bringing

page 183.)

the sales and distribution entirely into the fold.

In fact, amid the genuine competition for the Telecaster, the

By 1954, a significant layer of management personnel was

Stratocaster was virtually on top of the heap. Several Tele players

established at Fender, and the manufacturer was more and more

moved over to Fender’s fancy new three-pickup electric with its

reflecting the structure of any traditional company. Don Randall

efficient new vibrato bridge. One was Bill Carson, whom Leo had

was established as president of Fender Sales, George Fullerton

tapped for constructive input on the guitar’s design, while others

had been promoted to production foreman the year before, and

like Eldon Shamblin, who had never embraced the Telecaster,

Forrest White was hired as plant manager. Freddie Tavares, a

took enthusiastically to the Strat.

Hawaiian-born musician and experienced mechanical and elec-

As radical and space-aged as the Stratocaster was, however, and

trical engineer, had also started working for Fender in early 1953.

as much excitement and seemingly easy acceptance as its release

Tavares was himself a skilled and in-demand session musician

received, by the time the dust had settled, the Telecaster remained

both on steel and Spanish-style guitar, and his work has been

king of the heap for the majority of country players, and would

heard by millions—if unbeknownst to most of them—in the

prove a favorite with plenty of blues and rock ’n’ roll artists, too.

famous steel-guitar slide crescendo that introduces the theme song to Warner Brothers’ Looney Tunes cartoon series. Acting as

CBS ACQUIRES FENDER

Leo’s chief assistant in R&D, Tavares would be seen more and

ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTS

more as Leo’s “right-hand man” in that department through the

Although the deal had been sought by Leo Fender and Don

course of the 1950s and into the ’60s, and would have a major

Randall as early as mid-1964 and negotiated throughout the lat-

role in developing the Stratocaster in particular. By the end of

ter part of that year, its finalization on January 5, 1965—and the

the decade, there would be more than one hundred employees at

departure of Leo Fender from Fender Electric Instruments—is

Fender to fill the ever-expanding manufacturing premises.

probably best embodied by Forrest White:

26 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 26 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 26

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 26

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“Monday evening, January 4, 1965, I went down to see Leo

Columbia Records Distribution Corporation under CBS. Don

in his lab for the last time. We both found it difficult to act

Randall was named vice president and general manager, the title

nonchalant. I helped him carry his personal belongings out to

Forrest White had held with Fender Electronic Instruments, while

his car, pretended not to notice the tears in his eyes, hoped

White was made plant manager again, the position he

he hadn’t noticed mine. He got into his car and I walked to

had held in the mid-’50s. Fender had hired guitarist

the side gate. He stopped briefly on his way out, paused

Bill Carson in 1957 to work in quality control. Having

and said, ‘I don’t know what I would have done without

been promoted to guitar production foreman in 1959,

you.’ . . . He stepped on the gas and was out the gate

Carson also stayed with Fender through the sale to CBS,

before I could answer. That was the last time I would

and would move over Fender Sales in 1967. Among

let him out the gate as I had done so many times

other formative Fender employees that stuck it out with

before. I watched until his car was out of sight.”

CBS, in the beginning at least, were George Fullerton and

(Fender: The Inside Story) Having been unable to shake a strep infection contracted

Freddie Tavares, although Dale Hyatt left around the time of the sale’s completion.

in the mid-’50s that continually aggravated his sinuses, Leo

As part of the sale agreement, Leo Fender was retained as

Fender had, by the mid-’60s, been feeling more and more

a consultant in research and development for five years, with

run-down from his illness, and further exhausted by the

a “non-compete” clause of ten years that would prevent him

effort of running the ever-expanding business. By 1964

from setting himself up in the musical instrument business

Fender employed approximately five hundred workers in

independent of the now CBS-owned Fender company. The

a premises that had expanded to twenty-seven buildings in

consultation role seems to have been largely a token gesture

Fullerton. Business was good—business was great, even—

on CBS’s part, and his input apparently carried relatively

but Leo Fender himself just wasn’t up to it.

little weight.

Leo instructed Don Randall to quietly begin searching

Some reports, though unconfirmed, indicate that Leo

for a suitable buyer, and Randall’s request

Fender’s doctors had him believing that he didn’t have long

to the investment firm Merrill Lynch

to live, and that his sale of Fender was a clear move to get

for appropriate introductions eventu-

out from under the burden of the company

ally led to the Columbia Broadcasting

and enjoy what time he had left. In any

System, Inc. (CBS). Looking to expand

case, three years after selling the company

its portfolio, CBS was keen to acquire

that he had built from the ground up over

a leading electric guitar and amplifier

the course of twenty years to become one

manufacturer during a boom time in that

of the world’s most successful musical instru-

industry. A deal to purchase both Fender

ment manufacturers, Fender finally found

Electronic Instruments and Fender Sales was hammered out, and the price, a

relief from his affliction. “About 1968, I found a doctor who knew the appropri-

staggering $13.5 million, was the

ate treatment for the infection,” he told

highest paid to date for a musical

Guitar Player in 1971, “and I haven’t

instrument manufacturer.

been bothered with it since.”

Upon completion of the sale, the company name was changed to Fender Musical Instruments, now a division of

1954 Stratocaster. Chicago Music Exchange, www.chicagomusicexchange.com

P A R T I : L E O A N D T H E O R I G I N O F F E N D E R • 27

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 27 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 27

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 27

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

amplifiers themselves) to offset losses from other divisions. Division head Don Randall, who was on the same five-year contract term as an executive that Leo Fender had as a consultant, was also dissatisfied with the way the business was going under CBS by this time. Randall departed in 1969, well before the official end of his tenure, and in 1971 he set up his own company, Randall Instruments. FENDER AFTER FENDER At the end of his consultation contract with CBS, Leo Fender established the Tri-Sonic company in 1971,

Fender’s 1966-67 catalog.

along with Forrest White and former Fender Sales rep Tom Walker. Fender and White began developing ideas Just a year after CBS’s Fender acquisition, the fac-

for a new line of amplifiers and guitars, with White pat-

tory had increased its guitar and amplifier production

enting a design for a bass headstock with three keys on

by approximately 30 percent, though with no noticeable

the bass side and one key on the treble that would soon

decline in quality as of yet. In 1966, however, CBS com-

be a familiar new sight on the market. In 1973 the three

pleted construction on an enormous new facility at 1300

partners changed the company name to Musitek, then

S. Valencia Drive, adjacent to the previous site at 500

changed it again in 1974 to Music Man, and took old

South Raymond Avenue in Fullerton. Soon after the move

Fender colleague George Fullerton onboard soon after.

into the new premises, production increased another 45

In 1975, with his noncompete clause completed, Leo

percent, and the first signs of what would

Fender stepped forward as president of

be a steady decline in quality in general

Music Man, and the company soon

began to be apparent.

hit the ground running with a line

Several of the old guard that had

of products that had already been in

transitioned to CBS from the for-

development. Music Man’s amps of

mer Fender Electronic Instruments

the mid- to late-1970s, in what were

expressed increasing displeasure with

clearly Fender-like configurations but

the large company’s emphasis on production numbers over all else. As the new decade approached, it also became

with solid-state preamps and tube output stages, proved fairly successful and were used by major pros such as

apparent that CBS was bleeding the

Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler.

profits from the continued busi-

The Stingray bass, with its

ness success of Fender Musical

unusual 3-and-1 headstock, also

Instruments

(now

officially

called CBS Musical Instruments Division other than in the brand line used on the instruments and

A well-gigged 1968 Telecaster updated with a 1970s six-saddle bridge. Doug Youland, Willie’s American Guitars

28 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 28 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 28

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 28

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

became a standard of many reputable studio and touring pros, although the six-string guitars were slower to achieve wide acceptance among working musicians. That Music Man guitars, under the latter-day ownership of Ernie Ball, were eventually endorsed by Albert Lee, Steve Morse, and for a time, Edward Van Halen, finally put those on the map, too. In 1979 Leo Fender and George Fullerton started G&L—for “George and Leo”—in Fullerton, California, and the pair began to produce a range of guitars in competition with both Fender and Music Man. In 1985 G&L introduced its Broadcaster model, a guitar clearly patterned after the Fender Telecaster, with similar body and headstock shapes but powered by Leo Fender’s newly developed Magnetic Field Design pickups. Fender Musical Instruments, rather ironically, objected to the use of the Broadcaster name—denied to them by Gretsch some thirty-five years before—and in 1986 G&L changed the name of its Tele-like model to ASAT (as in the anti-satellite missile). After George Fullerton’s interest in G&L was bought out by Leo Fender in the mid-1980s, the company name was changed to “Guitars by Leo”; former Fender employee Dale Hyatt joined the fold, and Forrest White was soon taken on, too.

Fender’s 1968 catalog.

G&L would be Leo’s final home as a guitar maker. Former Fender associates Doc Kauffman and Freddie Tavares died in June and July 1990, respectively. Less than a year later, Leo Fender passed away on March 21, 1991. Following Leo Fender’s death, ownership of G&L eventually passed to BBE Sound, which still maintains Fender’s final workshop on the premises as a memorial to the man who brought so much to the guitar world.

P A R T I : L E O A N D T H E O R I G I N O F F E N D E R • 29

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 29 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 29

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 29

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

2012 Custom Shop 1956 Aged Lake Placid Blue Relic Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 30 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 30

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 30

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

GAZING BACKWARD TO MOVE FORWARD

was a wise move. The growing success of the reissue lines argu-

Following a decade of increasing struggle to maintain a foot-

ably saved Fender’s reputation when the very existence of the

hold in the marketplace, which often found Fender’s reputation

company was on the line, and decades later similar reissue guitars

slipping down between the expectations established by its for-

in their various guises have continued to prove the backbone of

mer glories and the sketchy quality of its current production, a

the lineup.

major shift toward the better was in the wind in the early 1980s.

Shortly after these initiatives, however, twenty years after Leo

In an effort to revive the company’s fortunes, CBS brought in

Fender sold his company, CBS decided to divest itself of its hold-

John McLaren, Bill Schultz, and Dan Smith in 1981, all young

ings in the musical instrument industry and, following a search

executives from the American branch of Japanese instrument

for a suitable buyer, sold to a group of investors headed by then-

maker Yamaha. Rather ironically (or perhaps not), the new team

Fender president Bill Schultz. The deal, inked in March of 1985,

started production of a Fender line in Japan in order to compete

gave the new owners the Fender brand and designs and some

with the cut-price Fender copies that had been coming from

stock for $12.5 million, although the Fullerton factories were

that country for some time, and the Squier and Japanese-made

not included in the bargain (a point which makes it difficult to

Fender series were born.

directly compare the price to the $13.5 million tag on Fender

At the same time, the Smith, Schultz, and McLaren team saw

circa 1965, as purchased by CBS in the first place).

the virtue of returning to Fender’s past strengths and launched the

After struggling to maintain a place in the market while

company’s first-ever reissue-style Stratocasters (and Telecasters)

ramping up production in new premises in the United States and

in Japan and the United States in 1982 and 1983, respectively. It

maintaining Japanese production, Schultz and company steered Fender onto a stronger and stronger footing, and did so largely by remembering—and recreating—what had made the guitars so popular in the company’s glory days of 1950 to 1965.

2010 Custom Shop 1956 Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Custom Shop 1953 Telecaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

P A R T I : L E O A N D T H E O R I G I N O F F E N D E R • 31

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 31 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 31

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 31

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 32 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 32

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 32

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Fender’s Vintage ’52 Telecaster Reissue has become famous and beloved since its introduction in 1982— and as many great licks and songs have probably been played on them as the original black-guard models! Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 33 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 33

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 33

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 34 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 34

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 34

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

PART II

THE TELECASTER

WORKING-CLASS HERO. The ultimate blue-collar guitar. That is the Fender Telecaster. It wasn’t made

to be elegant, or pretty, or sophisticated—although it can claim the first two qualities in spades. It was constructed as a tool for the working musician, an optimally functional guitar to get the job done. The Telecaster aimed, in short, to be the ultimate utilitarian musical instrument, and it far and away exceeded that goal. In the hands of Luther Perkins, Buck Owens, Muddy Waters, Joe Strummer, and Bruce Springsteen, the Telecaster and its brethren have made the music of working people: country, blues, punk, and rock ’n’ roll. Strap on its solid slab of swamp-grown southern hardwood, plug straight into an old tube combo, and let it rip. The Telecaster offers no adornment, and needs none: no abalone inlays, no scrollwork, no marquetry or purfling. It’s a pure music-maker, raw and in your face, ready to take on what you throw at it. In short, it is the simple, naked form of the solid-body electric six-string. It gives you nothing more than is needed to attack the job at hand, and certainly delivers nothing less. This is the complete tale of an electric guitar that came to work, and that continues to work hard seventy years after its birth, still resonating with the purity of the first slab of swamp ash that was carved to that iconic single-cutaway design.

1950 Broadcaster. Steve Catlin/Redferns/Getty Images

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 35 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 35

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 35

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown totes his early Telecaster in a 1950s Peacock Records publicity photo. Gilles Petard/Redferns/Getty Images

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 36 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 36

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 36

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

A 1955 white-guard Esquire with subtle V-neck awaits on a tweed Deluxe combo amp.

HISTORY OF THE TELECASTER

WE HAVE MANY SECOND- AND THIRD-HAND REPORTS of the reception that Fender’s solid-

body electric guitar received when it first arrived, but try briefly to imagine for yourself how this new instrument must have appeared to guitarists and industry professionals when it hit the scene in 1950. The guitar that we shall broadly refer to as the Telecaster (although it began life as the Esquire, then Broadcaster) is a familiar image today, a keystone of the universal consciousness of any and all people remotely involved with guitars and a shape familiar even to ordinary citizens who have never picked a string. But dial your imagination back to a time when the electric guitar et al. was yet a newfangled creation, and even the finest examples available still adhered to a narrow platform, rooted in the previous century.

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 37 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 37

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 37

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Upon its debut in 1949, Gibson’s three-pickup ES-5 was the premier guitar of the day. Still, the ES-5 was truly just an acoustic guitar with pickups screwed on.

surrealist reinvention of what “the guitar” even was, whether electric or not, and therein lay the brilliance of it. It retained the six strings and it retained the tuning, and that was just about it. It was a plank, and if you wanted to, you could probably whack a baseball or paddle a canoe with it, and very likely even play it afterward . . . once you let it dry out again. This was an entirely new tool, and it offered barely a nod over its shoulder to whatever had come before. Fender’s new instrument embodied a brave new amplified world of music for the guitarist, and, as it would happen, for the listener, too. It would not only fill a very real need, but also would change the course of popular culture in doing so. The humble design and appointments might seem to have been superceded in the design stakes by plenty of guitars and gizmos that followed, whether we credit the Gibson Les Paul, Fender’s own Stratocaster, the Floyd Rose vibrato, or even self-tuning, synth-ready, and USB-enabled guitars of the twenty-first cenIn the mid-1940s, when Gibson returned to production after

tury. But the Telecaster’s form and function remain so seminal, so

the war effort, the most advanced electric guitars from this mar-

standard-setting, that it is still the clear template for every solid-

ket leader were still just standard hollow-body archtop acoustics

body that followed, however radical. Not just a “new model” of

with added pickups, and efforts from Epiphone, Gretsch, and

guitar, the Telecaster, and its arrival in 1950, is a clear demarca-

most others were not much different. Even Gibson’s major elec-

tion between then and now, before and after. It’s a “guitar,” sure,

tric breakthroughs of the late ’40s—the two-pickup ES-350 of

but—as a player might have put it on the eve of that sixth decade

1947, followed by the three-pickup ES-5 and laminated-bodied

of the twentieth century—not as we know it.

ES-175 of 1949—were but marginal adaptations of the acoustic guitar. The Fender guitar, though, was different, and not simply

HAWAIIAN TO WESTERN SWING

because it was made of solid wood with a bolt-on neck. Sure, it

TO JAZZ: MAKING IT LOUDER

was basic, crude even, and easily derided as a “canoe paddle,” a

The fact that Leo Fender’s inroads into the musical instrument

“baseball bat,” or simply a “plank” (all of which were leveled at

business revolved so heavily around the lap steel guitar gives some

it by musicians and competitors alike). And yet, we can imagine

insight into the development of that quirky creation that came

the industry naysayers must have been quaking in their boots

to be known as the Telecaster. Evolving from a Hawaiian music

just a little bit, too, wondering, “Could this be the future of

craze that spread like wildfire in the 1920s and early ’30s to the

the guitar?” Oh, it most certainly could. Far more than just

burgeoning Western Swing and country scenes that ignited in the

an electric guitar, a trick that had already been done, Fender’s

late ’30s and through the ’40s, the lap steel guitar, played with

instrument was a total redrawing of the blueprint, virtually a

a solid steel bar, or slide, was really the most popular “electric

38 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 38 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 38

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 38

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

An unidentified Hawaiian band circa 1930 playing a range of Rickenbacker electric lap steel and Spanish guitars and Spanish tenor guitars. Rickenbacker’s solidbody Hawaiian, lap, and Spanish hollow-body guitars pioneered electric-guitar technology.

guitar” of the era. Part of its prominence can be attributed not

While makers like Gibson, Epiphone, Gretsch, and other

merely to the music that it suited so well (and helped to inspire),

traditional acoustic guitar manufacturers had, or thought they

but also to the fact that it was more effective as a lead instrument,

had, the vehicle for the electric guitar in hand, Leo Fender knew

and therefore more capable of putting “guitarists,” in the broad

by the latter edge of the mid-’40s that he had the sound fairly

sense, in the spotlight. Players of what we now view as “con-

well defined in his “mind’s ear,” as confirmed by the musicians

ventional” guitars had been seeking the same sonic advantages

who provided so much feedback to the cause, and that he had

for two decades by the mid-’40s and—the playing achievements

the electronic means of creating it. Essentially, the guitarists

of artists such as Charlie Christian, Eddie Durham, Alvino Rey,

with whom Fender was fraternizing wanted, even craved, the

and others on boomy, feedback-prone archtop electrics not-with-

sound that steel players were already finding in production

standing—a satisfactory solution to the difficulty of being heard

instruments, but in a guitar that could be played in the Spanish

amidst a big band had yet to be found. The bright, clear, steel

style. Essentially, the sound, and the means of achieving it,

guitar, on the other hand, cut through the mix like a searchlight

came first; as for the guitar it would be bolted to, that could be

through the California night.

pure function over form.

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 39

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 39 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 39

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 39

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Paul Bigsby’s electric guitar was one of the first solidbodies built, but was only made in small numbers. Still, the Bigsby guitar is believed to have had a profound influence on Leo Fender’s own creation. In particular, Bigsby’s six-on-a-side tuners configuration was a novel and clever route to get straight string runs. This 1948 Bigsby was made for country picker Merle Travis. Outline Press Ltd.

40 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 40 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 40

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 40

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

PROTOTYPING THE FENDER

suspended beneath, all mounted on an extremely rudimentary

SOLID-BODY ELECTRIC GUITAR

guitar that lacks even a cutaway, and carries a three-per-side

To begin to get a handle on Leo Fender’s approach to the task in

headstock. As iconic as the Telecaster body shape has become,

hand circa 1948, we need to revisit his own stated goals in devel-

this mating of hardware and electronics in one simple and inge-

oping electric instruments. As he told Guitar Player, “I guess you

niously functional design really is what defines the Telecaster.

would say the objectives were durability, performance, and tone.”

This design also fulfills Fender’s desire to provide guitar-

That’s it, in a nutshell. Expounding upon this, however, as he did

ists with a more versatile bridge than previously available, and

on several occasions, Fender extrapolates the components within

although the three saddles atop the steel base plate of the clas-

each of those three objectives, painting a bigger picture of what

sic vintage-Tele design might seem crude by today’s standards,

went into achieving them.

the configuration appeared wonderfully versatile in its day. At

We have already discussed the tone as having descended from

the time, electric guitars from the major manufacturers almost

the lap steel guitar, and Fender’s pickup designs for those instru-

universally carried a “floating” bridge, a two-piece design that

ments were already evolving toward the seminal Telecaster bridge

encompassed a wooden base with a single wooden saddle mounted

and neck pickups by the late 1940s. His use of six individual

on two bolts with thumbscrews. It was adjustable for height, and

magnets, one for each string, which passed vertically through the

for approximate intonation settings by sliding the entire unit

horizontal coil, helped to enhance clarity in the unit’s response.

back and forth (or angling it one way or the other), but that was

Fender himself noted another advantage of the design: “I think

about it. Fender’s new design provided height adjustment for each

that perhaps I was the first person to use separate magnets, one

individual string, and more precise intonation adjustment for the

for each string,” he told Guitar Player magazine in May 1978.

strings in pairs, in addition to the sustain-enhancing properties

“That way, I found that the notes didn’t seem to run together—

of metal saddles. As such, it was a

you could get more of an individual performance off of each

big step forward.

string.” The narrow coil and tight magnetic field also contributed to a bright tone, another boon to the guitarist’s effort to “cut through the band.” Ask any player to discuss components that differentiate the Telecaster from other electric guitars (Fenders such as the

Regarding the overall design of the guitar in general, Leo was

Stratocaster and Jazzmaster included) and they are likely to men-

driven largely by his long-standing goal that it should be easy to

tion the bridge and the bridge pickup. Even before the Esquire

service. Following from this, as he told Rolling Stone in 1976,

and Broadcaster hit the scene, these are the very elements of the

“The design of everything we did was intended to be easy to

design that Leo Fender sought to protect. Via a patent applica-

build, and easy to repair. . . . If a thing is easy to service, it is easy

tion filed on January 13, 1950, and granted a little over a year

to build.” To that end, the use of a screwed-on neck (usually,

later, Fender sought to protect his new “Combination Bridge and

though errantly, referred to as “bolt-on”) addressed several objec-

Pickup Assembly,” displayed in drawings that clearly show the

tives. The neck itself wasn’t necessarily easier to manufacture than

very recognizable Tele bridge plate with three saddles and pickup

one that would be glued into a guitar’s body in the traditional

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 41

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 41 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 41

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 41

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

way—other than its lack of additional fingerboard—but the

hired him in 1948 to repair radios in the shop, and, shortly after,

steps of attaching and correctly aligning it were greatly simplified.

charged him with servicing warranty returns of Fender amplifi-

The “easy-to-service” side of the goal was fulfilled, too, in that the

ers and steel guitars. As Fender’s business expanded through the

player could simply bolt on a replacement if necessary, or re-align

late ’40s and early ’50s, both conceptually and physically, Leo

the original more easily than he or she could a glued-in neck.

brought Fullerton more and more into the design and manufac-

Several reports also indicate that Leo felt the bolt-on neck would

turing fold.

be useful because, rather than having to re-fret the guitar, a new

Exercising a long-standing interest in art that would work

neck could simply be added by the player in the field, armed only

hand in hand with his technical abilities, Fullerton set about

with a Phillips head screwdriver.

drawing a simple and subtly elegant solid-wood guitar that

The guitar’s body was conceived to be just as functional, and

could stand alongside the best of mid-century modern design.

just as easy to produce. A slab-style body made from swamp ash,

The result, embodied in the first real Esquire/Broadcaster pro-

or even pine, as were some early prototypes, was clearly much

totype of 1949, clearly displays the iconic Telecaster body shape,

cheaper and easier to manufacture than a hollow body of any

hardware, and electronics, with a few crucial differences when

quality, or even a carved or contoured solidbody. Its electronics

compared to the production model that would follow:

and hardware could obviously be added, and accessed for repair,

• In place of the familiar post-1950 Tele pickguard that runs

much more easily, too. Beyond the ease of manufacture, though,

beneath the strings, the prototype has a pickguard more like

the solidbody offered performance and tonal characteristics that

that of other electric guitars of the era, protecting only the

elevated it above the obvious “well, it’s cheaper” criticism. Its lack

treble side of the body, from the controls to the cutaway.

of the acoustic resonance of a hollow-body guitar was actually a

• The control plate is shorter and installed at an angle between

positive, given Fender’s aims, since this reduced feedback howl

output jack and bridge, and carries volume and tone pots

exponentially, making it much easier to use the instrument on

only for the single pickup, with no tone selector switch.

stage at any significant volume levels. Tonally, the solid wood was

• Perhaps most notably of all, the headstock is a conventional,

also a boon to both sustain and clarity, making the new guitar a

symmetrical three-a-side type as used by most makers of the

superior instrument for lead playing.

day—Gibson, Epiphone, and Gretsch included—carved to

As for “features,” well, that was about it. So simple was the initial design that it can be summed up in just a few short paragraphs, as we have done here. And to Leo Fender’s mind, as well as those of the thousands of players who would latch on to the Telecaster year after year, that simplicity was a definite plus.

what is often referred to as a “snakehead” shape. • The neck plate is a little longer than would be conventional for production guitars, at 2⅝ inches. • The body is made from pine and finished in an opaque white. • Also less obvious from any front views of the instrument, but

MOVING FROM PROTOTYPE TO PRODUCTION

discernable from the lack of “skunk stripe,” the solid-maple

While continuing to turn out steel guitars and amplifiers, Fender

neck has no truss rod. It is also wider than normal for an

worked through much of 1949 to produce a viable Spanish elec-

electric Spanish guitar, at nearly two inches across the nut.

tric prototype. Electronics and component design were mainly the provenance of Leo himself, while George Fullerton was

Even with these elements accounted for, the prototype still

tasked with designing the body. Fullerton was born in 1923 in

represents all of the crucial design points that would make

Hindsville, Arkansas (and, ironically, had no familial connec-

the Telecaster eventually, if not immediately, such a successful

tion to Fullerton, California), and moved to California before

instrument. In addition to the visible links to the final form

the war to work in a plant manufacturing aircraft parts. Fender

of the instrument post-1950—such as the bridge and pickup

Custom Shop 60th Anniversary Esquire. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation 42 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 42 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 42

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 42

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 43 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 43

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 43

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1954 Esquire. Fretted Americana

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 44 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 44

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 44

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

assembly, narrow control plate, body shape, and bold-on maple

displayed at the Chicago NAMM show one year later. Before

neck—the prototype’s 25½-inch scale length would become a

making the truss rod an official part of the formula, however,

standard of Fender’s most popular instruments, too, including

Fender seems to have manufactured several pre-production

the Stratocaster and Jazzmaster after the Telecaster. Responsible

Esquires without them—some as final-phase prototypes, per-

in great part for the Telecaster’s shimmering harmonic content

haps, and others as custom-order guitars sold directly to local

and firm, punchy, low end (ingredients of the classic “twang”

musicians—several of which still exist today.

sound), the scale length was perhaps something of a random

Many of these Esquires also have the pine bodies of the 1949

occurrence, rather than the result of the kind of hard-graft

prototypes, but even before their manufacture, Leo appears to

R&D that Fender would normally be known for. From Forrest

have settled on the six-in-line headstock for which the Telecaster

White again, writing in his book Fender: The Inside Story: “Leo

has always been known. Whether he was influenced by the Merle

told me the scale and fret placement had been copied from a

Travis/Paul Bigsby guitar or by accounts of Croatian instru-

Gretsch archtop guitar. This is why it was 25½ inches from the

ments, as he himself claimed, Leo Fender had sound engineering

nut to the bridge.” Many big-bodied jazz guitars had tradition-

reasons for using the asymmetrical headstock. “My main reason,”

ally been made with 25½-inch scale lengths, although several

he told Guitar Player magazine in May 1978, “was that it put all

Gibsons of the day, including some of the more advanced elec-

the strings in a straight line to the tuners—right straight through

trics designs such as the ES-175 with laminated body woods

the nut to the peg. I didn’t want to fan out the strings like you

and built-in (rather than “floating”) pickups, were made to a

have to with pegs on both sides.” What Fender seems to be allud-

shorter 24¾-inch scale, and most standard steel guitars had

ing to, without entirely saying, is the tuning issues from which

scale lengths that were shorter still.

Gibson, Epiphone, Gretsch, and guitars with similarly designed

Other prototypes followed, and as 1949 rolled toward 1950,

three-a-side headstocks can sometimes suffer, caused when the

the guitar would approach its now-classic state. Before getting

strings get caught up in the nut slots due to the relatively sharp

there, however, its development would encounter a few hiccups

break angle from nut to tuner.

that, in some instances, Fender was strangely slow in correcting.

Already in the habit of testing out new ideas on musicians

One of the most significant of these revolves around the lack of a

and folding their feedback into reiterations of the design, Leo

truss rod in the first prototypes, and an apparent debate over the

Fender sought professional opinions from several notable players

necessity of this feature versus the production expense and effort

during the prototyping stages. In 1984 he told Guitar Player of

of including it.

taking a guitar to the Riverside Rancho Dance Hall in Riverside,

Reports indicate—and appear to be validated by Forrest

California, for Jimmy Bryant to try out. Bryant took the guitar

White—that Fender sales manager Don Randall took two proto-

up on stage with Little Jimmy Dickens and his band and started

types to the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM)

playing, and, as Leo told it, “Pretty soon the band stopped, every-

show in New York City in the summer of 1949, and that the gui-

body on the dance floor stopped, and they all gathered around

tars stirred some interest, but were largely criticized for their lack

Jimmy when he played.”

of truss rods. White tells of meeting Valco founder Al Frost in

In his own “Recollections” in the John Edwards Memorial

the late 1950s, and being told that Frost advised Randall not to

Foundation Quarterly of the fall of 1979, Merle Travis recounted

manufacture the guitars in that condition, or they could expect

testing out a guitar that Leo brought with him when return-

warranty headaches further down the road. Although he appar-

ing the Travis/Bigsby solidbody he had borrowed for a week. “I

ently thought the maple necks would stand up fine without added

thought it was a fine instrument, and I told him so,” Travis wrote.

support, Leo clearly bowed to informed opinion and tooled up

“He asked me to try it out, which I was pleased to do.” But not

for the feature, which was included in the official-release guitars

all early tests, it would seem, went as well as these. There are also

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 45

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 45 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 45

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 45

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The headstock of a 1950 Broadcaster. Steve Catlin/Redferns/Getty Images

1950 Broadcaster. Geoff Dann/Redferns/ Getty Images

46 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 46 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 46

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 46

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

stories of Dale Hyatt, then working as the manager of the shop

fiction. Fuelled largely by CBS-owned Fender’s ads of the early

at Fender’s Radio Service, taking guitars to Northern California

’70s featuring a 1972 Telecaster beside a “1948 Telecaster,” this

for other players to try out on the bandstand, only to have three

was a misfire from a company that had lost touch with its roots,

in a row fail due to pickup wires that had pinched between the

or just a marketing department brainstorm that slipped through

bridge plate and pickup base plate and shorted out. Given these

without level-headed assessment from the powers that might

minor setbacks, and the derisive comments about being a “canoe

usually approve such promotional efforts. Whatever the case,

paddle” or a “toilet seat” that the prototypes received from other

nothing more than very early workbench and drawing board

quarters, it’s clear that it was not all smooth sailing for Fender and

efforts of a Fender electric Spanish existed in 1948, with the

company. With that in mind, it’s impressive that the team went

first even vaguely Tele-ish prototypes being produced around

from prototyping in mid-1949 to an official release by the spring

mid-1949, and no production guitars until 1950.

of 1950, no more than a year later.

A lot of the confusion over what was introduced then was

Murky with the fog of time, the order in which the late proto-

apparently caused by the occasional butting of heads between

types and early production models were produced, the numbers

Leo Fender, as designer and manufacturer, and the reps at Radio

of them, and the precise dates of release are difficult to confirm.

& Television Equipment Company (RTEC), exclusive distribu-

In his popular history, The Fender Telecaster (Hal Leonard, 1991),

tor of Fender Electric Instruments from 1946 to 1953. Fender

A.R. Duchossoir writes that trade magazines of the day reported

clearly leaned toward the full-featured two-pickup instrument,

that only the single-pickup Esquire was displayed at the Chicago

an even more innovative design for the time, while RTEC sales-

NAMM show in July, 1950. This guitar had an opaque black

people wanted to get in on the ground with the more affordable

finish and white pickguard (possibly concealing a body made of

single-pickup Esquire and promoted that in their literature in

pine, like those of the prototypes) and an unusual push-button

early 1950 in an effort to do so. Don Randall, as Fender sales

tone switch where the three-way selector switch would later be

manager (and having come to Fender via a similar position with

positioned. The same guitar, or one of very few rare early siblings,

RTEC), appeared to be wedged between the two parties. It’s

appears in Fender’s spring catalog of 1950, as well as in early trade

easy to see how, given the rough reception that the “plank” was

advertisements.

receiving in some quarters, the more affordable Esquire might

Forrest White tells, on the other hand, of being told by Leo and Don Randall alike that a dual-pickup guitar was ready for

have seemed an easier sell—or less likely to get an RTEC rep laughed out the door, at least.

summer NAMM of 1950. “The guitar that made the show that

Despite the sparring between models, by the latter part of

year was a two-pickup version with truss rod,” he writes. “Leo

1950 Fender was clearly leading with the two-pickup Broadcaster

and Don called it the Broadcaster.” Meanwhile, Esquires with

with so-called blonde finish—and starting to produce a decent

two pickups and the more familiar blonde finishes were also

number of them, too—with the single-pickup Esquire settling

made early in 1950, as evidenced by photographs and existing

in as the entry-level model. Although Leo’s own account tells

examples. Running slightly contrary to all of this, Leo told Guitar

us that Randall was pulling for the simpler one-pickup Esquire,

Player magazine in 1984, “Randall wanted us to come out with

and he the two-pickup version, it was apparently Randall who

the single pickup design and wanted to call it the Esquire. That

named the Broadcaster, for the vast popularity of radio and fledg-

may be why it showed up in that catalogue and price list and the

ling television. Once they were established as official models,

Broadcaster or Telecaster didn’t. But the Broadcaster was the first

the Esquire carried a list price of $139.95 and the Broadcaster

one we built.”

$169.95, plus $39.95 for the optional case for either model. (At

Whatever the truth, the idea that any kind of official Broadcaster or Telecaster was issued as early as 1948 is purely

roughly 25 percent of the cost of the guitar itself, it was a pricey case for its day.)

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 47

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 47 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 47

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 47

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

LAUNCHING THE “NEW ELECTRIC STANDARD”

pickup with conventional tone control in the middle, and bridge

There are tales of several early Esquires without truss rods, but

with tone control at the rearward position. Rather incredibly, the

these are very likely apocryphal. However many were produced,

Telecaster wouldn’t receive the logical neck/both/bridge pickup

Fender was clearly ramped up for truss rod installation by the

selections, all with tone control in-circuit, until 1967, even

time of the guitars’ official releases, and the first-generation

though countless players were rewiring their switches for these

specs were pretty much settled by the latter part of 1951. An

options long before then. Leo did feel, however, that the tone

insert to the RTEC sales catalog entitled “New Fender Electric

control itself was revolutionary enough to warrant a patent of

Standard—‘Broadcaster Model’” boasted of the truss rod, as well

its own: He filed for such on July 31, 1953, and it was granted

as several other features that have come to define this ground-

on March 12, 1957. Even prior to this, though, Leo had sought

breaking guitar. Among these, with explanatory details, were:

his second patent related to the new Fender electric guitar, a

• Micro-Adjustable Bridge

design patent filed April 23, 1951, and granted August 14, 1951.

• Adjustable Solo-Lead Pickup

Offering front, side, and rear views of the Telecaster as we know it

• Adjustable Rhythm Pickup

today, this patent represents the only effort to protect the overall

• Adjustable Neck Truss Rod

shape and look of the instrument, which has nevertheless been

• Neck Anchor Plates

copied in near-exact detail for several decades.

• Tone Control

Two features not mentioned in the RTEC catalog insert

• Volume Control

were the Broadcaster’s transparent blonde finish, now standard

• Lever Switch

in place of the opaque black seen in the first advertising insert

• Modern Cutaway

of earlier that year, or the change in body wood beneath it. The

• Modern Styled Head

blonde, or “limed,” finish had become standard, as had the ash body, which had replaced the pine used in several early exam-

The ingredients of the “Telecaster tone” will be investigated

ples many months previous. Which came first is difficult to say,

more thoroughly in Telecaster Tone and Construction (see page

but they went hand in hand: the blonde finish gave the guitar a

131), but one of these features—not yet mentioned—bears

look that was more distinctive in the black-and-white world of

just a little discussion here. Fender’s “lever switch,” standard on

the day, and which also jibed better, aesthetically, with the limed

so many dual-pickup guitars today, was originally wired to an

Scandinavian-style finish of the predominant modern furniture

archaic and rather puzzling circuit. On top of that, the so-called

of the era. And, while plenty of players credit the tone of the

“tone control” really wasn’t a tone control at all, by conven-

early pine-bodied Esquires, the ash itself—in the form of light,

tional standards, until after 1952. When the Broadcaster was

resonant swamp ash in particular—would become a classic of the

first released, the settings accessed by the switch, from forward,

tonewood library thanks primarily to its use in Fender guitars of

to middle, to rear, were (1) “deep rhythm,” achieved with the

the 1950s.

neck pickup wired through a tone capacitor; (2) neck pickup alone (no tone control); and (3) both pickups, with the “tone”

TEST PILOTS: EARLY FENDER ENDORSEES

control used as a blender control to add the neck pickup to the

Even with the early hiccups cured, the wrinkles ironed out, and

bridge pickup as desired. Most who have tried a Broadcaster or

the Esquire and Broadcaster officially on the market, Fender

Telecaster with original wiring will attest to the fact that this deep

faced a rough road, acceptance-wise, in the early days of the new

rhythm sound—dull, muted—is very nearly useless.

solid-body guitars. Many players had been asking for just such an

Later in 1952 the wiring was changed to offer the same bassy sound from the neck pickup at the forward switch setting, neck

instrument, in theory anyway, but the majority proved a traditional and conservative lot, and took some winning over.

48 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 48 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 48

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 48

16/7/20 4:59 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1950 Broadcaster. Steve Catlin/ Redferns/Getty Images

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 49 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 49

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 49

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Virtually hand in hand with the official release of the new solid-body models, Fender was ramped up to promote its innovative new instrument with several prominent artist endorsements. The guitars’ acceptance radiated outward in everexpanding circles from the epicenter of the Western Swing and country scene, conveniently located in Southern California at the time, alongside a growing entertainment industry that was making Los Angeles its headquarters. Bandleader Spade Cooley was one of the most significant Western artists of the day, and his steel player Noel Boggs, a Fender steel guitar and amplifier endorser, was a major star on the scene, too. Right alongside Boggs, guitarist Jimmy Wyble was himself a rising star, and one of the first artists to promote Fender’s new solidbody in print. In an advertisement first published in May of 1950, Wyble is shown playing an Esquire with a black body and white pickguard—a guitar that might have been an early pine-bodied example, or might simply have been the victim of a

Tawnee Hall plays lead on an early Broadcaster guitar for Lefty Frizzell on October 26, 1952. Scotty Broyles/courtesy Deke Dickerson photo archive

photo touched up in production to show a black guitar like that which would appear in the first NAMM flier two months later. Fender’s real coup, though, came with landing an endorse-

helped to establish credibility for the solid-body electric Spanish,

ment from Jimmy Bryant. Bryant was celebrated as one of the

too. Even before the release of the Broadcaster and Esquire mid-

fastest players in the Los Angeles area, and one of the most skill-

way through 1950, barely four years into the company’s existence,

ful, in a scene that wasn’t short of hot pickers. Skills aside, Bryant’s

Fender was regarded as one of the leading manufacturers of steel

own back-story—his Depression-era childhood, war service, and

guitars and the amplifiers that went with them.

“go west, young man!” journey to join the entertainment industry—reads like the perfect mid-century Americana bio, and made

BROADCASTER TO NOCASTER

him the ideal endorsement for Fender’s newfangled guitar. For

TO TELECASTER

a few years in the early ’50s, Bryant belonged to Fender. Along

In February of 1951, just as the Broadcaster was gaining some

with steel guitarist Speedy West, who would also later endorse

tentative footing in the guitar world, RTEC received a letter

Fender instruments, Bryant recorded many of the stand-out elec-

from Gretsch stating that the well-established Brooklyn company

tric sides of the ’50s and proved an invaluable beacon for the

owned the trademark to the model name. Gretsch “Broadkaster”

Fender electric Spanish guitar in general.

banjos and drums (with a “k” in place of the “c”) had been on

On the heels of Bryant’s endorsement, plenty of others fol-

the market since the 1920s, and a drum kit of that name was still

lowed: Bill Carson, a guitarist with the Eddy Kirk Band; Hank

available at the time of the Fender Broadcaster’s release. Eager to

Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys, who would shortly after

avoid conflict so early in the game, Don Randall urged Fender

be instrumental in testing and helping to develop the Stratocaster;

to pull the Broadcaster name from the headstock and from all

Arthur Smith, Leon Rhodes, Charlie Aldrich, and several others.

advertising immediately, and Leo conceded. The event marks

In addition to the six-string stars willing to fly the flag, Fender’s

the end of the short-lived model, in name at least. With no reli-

deeper and longer-standing roots in the steel community certainly

able company records remaining, accounts differ on how many

50 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 50 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 50

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 50

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Broadcasters were produced from around the spring of 1950 to

By April of 1951, Don Randall, who had named the

February of 1951. Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, by George

Broadcaster little more than a year before, took Fender from

Gruhn and Walter Carter, estimates three hundred to five hun-

the radio days straight into the age of television by coining the

dred, although several accounts indicate that the tally could even

name “Telecaster.” Fender added the Telecaster model name to

total fewer than two hundred guitars.

the two-pickup guitar later that month, or certainly by early May

For a few months, Fender produced its two-pickup solid-body

of 1951, and it has stayed that way for sixty years and counting.

electric with no name on the headstock other than the company

Television was the big thing in the early 1950s and throughout

logo. This run of guitars, which came to be known as “Nocasters,”

that decade, so Fender’s new name couldn’t have hurt the product

represents another exceedingly rare and collectible Fender. Precise

in the least. A simple guitar, with simple contrasting colors—

production dates for any of the three—Broadcaster, Nocaster,

it’s almost as if the Telecaster was designed to look good on the

and early Telecaster—are difficult to trace because necks and

grainy, low-definition, black-and-white TV sets of the day, and

bodies were often dated after coming off the assembly line and

would even be identifiable amidst the typical snowstorm while

stored on shelves for weeks or even months before being used in

you jiggled the rabbit ears seeking better reception. Funny

a completed guitar. For this reason, a Nocaster might have a neck

enough, the look of the guitar on television would itself

date from firmly within the Broadcaster era, or a Telecaster a neck

inspire Leo to make a physical change in the Telecaster

dated within the Nocaster era, and so forth. It’s a situation that

later in the decade, but the model’s specs would evolve

can be confusing to the historian hoping to pin down Fender’s

in other subtle ways before that point arrived.

evolution with any precision, but one that most collectors have

(continued on page 62)

just come to accept.

Above: Billy F Gibbons with a brace of Esquires in 2005. David Perry (davidperrystudio.com) Right: Billy F Gibbons played this 1952 Broadcaster with ZZ Top on “Jesus Just Left Chicago” in 1973. David Perry (davidperrystudio.com)

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 51

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 51 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 51

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 51

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Jimmy Bryant

Custom Shop Jimmy Bryant Tribute Telecaster in white blonde. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

T

hanks to his Johnny-on-the-spot associations with Leo Fender and the pre-production development of the Broadcaster, Jimmy Bryant will

forever be thought of as “Mister Telecaster.” Even if he weren’t hanging out in So-Cal to take up a prototype Fender solidbody and display its capabilities for the masses, this fleet-fingered country, jazz, and Western Swing soloist would deserve some attention for the sheer gymnastics of his playing. Bryant was born in 1925 to a hardscrabble farming family in Moultrie, Georgia, and despite the encroaching Great Depression, he received a comprehensive musical education from his musician father, Ivy. He played the violin early on and was a skilled fiddler even as a young child, playing on street corners at the tender age of five and performing at two World’s Fairs with his father. Soon hailed as a fiddle prodigy in rural Georgia, Bryant’s career on the violin was cut short when he was drafted into the army at the age of eighteen and shipped out to the European front. He suffered a head injury from a grenade blast in Germany and he picked up the

52 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 52 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 52

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 52

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

A fantastic color shot of the legendary guitar and steel guitar team of Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West, at the Hometown Jamboree in El Monte, California. Jimmy is holding his first Broadcaster guitar. Scotty Broyles, courtesy of Deke Dickerson photo archive

guitar during his long recuperation. Following his discharge, Bryant

1951 and 1956, including the showpieces “Stratosphere Boogie,”

packed up his larger git-fiddle and headed west to Los Angeles, to

“Speedin’ West,” “Bryant’s Bounce,” and “Frettin’ Fingers.”

get in on the burgeoning Western Swing scene.

Throughout the early ’50s Bryant played and promoted the

Bryant’s impressive guitar skills—blending country swing with

Broadcaster, then Telecaster, sporting a standard black-guard

a little be-bop influence and a clear love of Django Reinhardt-style

example early on, but replacing this with a custom-engraved white

hot jazz—helped him make a name on the circuit rather quickly. He

pickguard before that color became standard for the model. Bryant

was already something of a phenomenon when Leo Fender asked

was purportedly a rather surly character, and difficult to work

him to test out one of his early Telecaster prototypes. Bryant was a

with. This attitude, it would seem, would lose Bryant his Capitol

member of Roy Rogers’s band The Sons of the Pioneers, and he was

Records contract in 1956 and trigger his early departure from other

hired for the band for Cliffie Stone’s Hometown Jamboree, broad-

prominent steady gigs. In the 1960s Bryant moved over to record

cast live on the radio and then on local television. While playing on

production more than performing, and even moved from Fender to

the session and movie scene around LA, Bryant teamed up with

be an endorser for Vox guitars for a time in the late ’60s. Bryant

steel-guitar whiz Speedy West to back a string of country artists,

relocated to Nashville in the mid-’70s and reunited with former

and eventually the duo were signed to Capitol Records as artists in

musical collaborator Speedy West in 1975. Bryant, a lifelong

their own right. Together, they cut more than fifty “sides” between

smoker, died of lung cancer in 1980.

J I M M Y B R YA N T • 53

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 53 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 53

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 53

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Paul Burlison The Rock ’n Roll Trio at New York City’s Pythian Temple during the band’s May 7, 1956, recording session for Coral Records. Even in this photo, the bandmates seem to have a hard time keeping still.

“I bought that Les Paul model Gibson, the first one they came out with—you know, that gold one? I bought it, but I didn’t keep it for but six months. . . . I never did like it, so as soon as that Fender came out, I traded it for a Fender.”

—Paul Burlison

Johnny Burnette through the local Golden Gloves boxing association. In addition to boxing, the Burnettes shared Burlison’s interest in music, and, in particular, the blend of country and Beale Street blues that was then bubbling up around Memphis. While learning a trade as an

A

s a founding member of the Rock ’n Roll Trio, Paul Burlison

electrician, Burlison pursued his interest in the guitar. In 1952, the

was at the epicenter of the rock ’n’ roll boom of the mid-’50s.

three formed The Rhythm Rangers. Burlison also played with other

He secured his place in history as a godfather of rockabilly, but the

groups around town, backing Howlin’ Wolf briefly, and even work-

guitarist never achieved the wider fame that such eminence might

ing as a studio guitarist at Sun Records before Elvis Presley joined

be expected to bring. Even so, he was one of the first true rock ’n’

the label.

rollers to ply his trade on a Telecaster (or originally, in his case, an Esquire), and he left an indelible mark on popular music.

In 1956, Burlison and the Burnette brothers left their wives and young children behind and hit the road for New York City,

Burlison was born in Brownsville, Tennessee, in 1929, but his

ostensibly to find union work for Paul and Dorsey, the electricians

musical conscience was really formed by Memphis, the city to

of the group. But their guitars came with them, and they found

which his family moved in 1937. Burlison enlisted in the Navy

musical success. An audition for the Ted Mack Original Amateur

in 1946 at the age of seventeen, where he earned an all-navy

Hour show on ABC-TV affiliate WHBQ in New York—where they

runner-up boxing title as a welterweight a year later. Upon

were briefly billed as the Rock ’N’ Roll Boys of Memphis—landed

his return to Memphis in 1949 he met brothers Dorsey and

three successive wins when the trio’s performance of “Tutti Frutti”

54 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 54 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 54

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 54

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

consistently slammed the applause meter into the red. Band

after be known as archetypal rockabilly, and certainly seminal rock

leader Henry Jerome signed them to a management contract,

’n’ roll by any standards.

and the group signed to Coral and was renamed the Rock ’N’ Roll

After tiring of the road late in 1957, Burlison headed back home

Trio (often billed as “Johnny Burnette and . . .” for the singer and

to Memphis, and aside from a brief jaunt to California to join the

rhythm guitarist).

Burnette Brothers (as Johnny and Dorsey were now calling them-

Although he briefly played a 1953 Gibson Les Paul prior to

selves), that was essentially the end of the Rock ’N Roll Trio. “I

the big move east to NYC, Burlison’s main instrument

enjoyed it, but the main thing was I missed my family,”

throughout his time with the Rock ’N Roll Trio was a

Burlison told Obrecht in 1978. “I enjoyed the playin’,

white-guard Fender Esquire, most likely made in late

but I enjoy playin’ just sittin’ around. I really do. And the

1954 or early ’55. In a 1978 interview with Guitar Player

fame—or whatever you want to call it—I don’t really

magazine’s Jas Obrecht, Burlison said, “I never did like

think it ever affected me at all. I was really wanting to

[the Les Paul] because I got bad feedback . . . so as soon

make enough money out of the thing to come home

as that Fender came out, I traded it for a Fender.” Early

and open up an electrical supply company.” When he

studio sessions in the spring of 1956 at the Pythian

got there, that’s exactly what he did. For some twenty

Temple in New York resulted in the singles “Midnight

years Burlison played music only “on the side,” for the

Train,” “Tear It Up,” “Oh Baby Babe,” and “You’re

fun of it, and concentrated on his electrical business.

Undecided,” and although none topped the charts, they

In the 1980s he revived his career and performed and

achieved reasonable commercial success. Burlison’s

recorded with several other artists, although the deaths

style on the Esquire, defined by boogie lines behind the

of Johnny Burnette in a boating accident in 1964, and

rhythm guitar, and driving single-note and double-stop

of Dorsey Burnette of a massive coronary in 1979,

solos, are clear precursors of the style that would soon

meant the Rock ’n Roll Trio would never ride again.

PA U L B U R L I S O N • 55

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 55 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 55

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 55

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

James Burton

Burton played this Paisley Tele with Elvis Presley, Gram Parsons, and Emmylou Harris. It now resides in the collection of actor Steven Seagal. Rick Gould

James Burton and his Telecaster back Ricky Nelson in this classic Fender advertisement.

F

rom making TV appearances on one of the nation’s most popular shows while still in his teens, to being first-call sideman for massive stars from

Elvis to Emmylou, James Burton was born to twang, and he was a Telecaster player right from the start. Born in 1939 in Dubberly, Louisiana, Burton expressed his musical drive early on. He took up the acoustic guitar while he was still in the single digits and first fell in love with a solid-body electric as a fourteen-yearold—at about the same time he turned professional—when he saw a new ’53 Telecaster hanging on the wall of J&S Music in Shreveport, Louisiana. Although he was younger than most significant players on the scene in the mid-1950s, Burton soon found himself right at the front edge of the rock ’n’ roll boom. Shortly after turning pro, Burton was asked to join

56 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 56 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 56

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 56

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

A young James Burton added his defining Louisiana swamp riff to Dale Hawkins’s rockabilly classic “Susie-Q.”

the house band for the Louisiana Hayride, broadcast from KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana, on which he backed several renowned stars and began to make a name for himself as a reliable sideman. In 1955 he joined Dale Hawkins’s band and started developing his rock ’n’ roll chops more fully. Playing his own distinctive style, using both a flatpick and a fingerpick on his middle finger, with light-gauge banjo strings on his Tele’s D through high E for easy bending, the youngster was soon displaying one of the more distinctive sounds of the period. Together Hawkins and Burton cut the hit song “Susie-Q” at the KWKH studio in 1957, featuring an archetypal rock ’n’ roll lick penned by Burton himself. Shortly after, Burton left Hawkins’s band to form rockabilly wailer Bob Luman’s backing band the Shadows,

of B-movie mediocrity, but Burton’s Hollywood debut brought him to

who scored minor hits with “My Gal Is Red Hot” and “A Red Cadillac

the attention of Ricky Nelson and, soon, a much more long-lasting

and a Black Moustache” before heading west to appear in the 1957

dose of national fame.

Roger Corman film Carnival Rock (in which the eighteen-year-old

In joining Ricky Nelson’s band—first as rhythm guitarist to Joe

Burton can frequently be seen squeezing out pyrotechnical riffs on

Maphis’s lead, then as lead guitarist himself—James Burton found

a custom-colored Telecaster with a black guard sporting “James”

himself periodically in front of the camera on Ozzie and Harriet, one

in white script). The film itself has largely disappeared in the annals

of America’s most popular TV shows of the 1950s and early ’60s,

J A M E S B U R T O N • 57

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 57 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 57

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 57

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

James Burton

James Burton’s country guitar licks were an essential part of Emmylou Harris’s famed Hot Band in the late 1970s.

Burton Signature Telecaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

as well as performing on numerous hit recordings, and he even lived with the eponymous Nelsons (a real family) for two years before finding his own digs in Tinseltown. Burton stayed with Ricky Nelson until 1967, but continued to play with Luman’s band, as well as making more and more studio appearances as a first-call LA studio player. In 1968, Elvis Presley tapped Burton for his famous “Comeback Special.” Burton remained Elvis’s guitarist until Presley’s death in 1977, although he found time between tours and recordings to make country-rock history first with Gram Parsons, then as a member of Emmylou Harris’s original Hot Band (in which he frequently sported a Paisley Red Telecaster from the late ’60s). A lifetime Telecaster player, Burton is an uncontested entry into the original solidbody history book and even boasts a decorative signature model from the contemporary Fender company.

58 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 58 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 58

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 58

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Burton Signature Telecaster in Red Flame. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

“My mother and dad bought me my first electric—a blonde-body, beautiful, twopickup Telecaster. They bought me my first guitar, and I started playing. I went professional when I was fourteen.”

—James Burton

James Burton followed Scotty Moore as Elvis’s main guitarist, adding his rockabilly licks to many No.1 hits.

J A M E S B U R T O N • 59

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 59 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 59

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 59

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1952 Telecaster. Guitar courtesy of Elderly Instruments/photo Dave Matchette

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 60 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 60

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 60

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 61 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 61

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 61

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

(continued from page 51)

signals the end of the “black-guard Tele,” as the pre-1955 guitars are so

TWEAKING THE FORMULA

often called. Around the same time,

Fender made a number of changes to the Telecaster in 1954, many

Fender ceased stamping the guitars’

of which were minor in the sense of structure and performance,

serial numbers on the bridges’ base

but were often noticeable nonetheless. The only changes in the

plates, stamping them instead on

first couple of years were the move from three steel bridge saddles

the neck plates on the backs of the

to three brass saddles around the fall of 1950, a change from

guitars, while the three string sad-

43-AWG wire to 42-AWG wire for winding the bridge pickup

dles changed back to solid steel,

sometime around the move from Broadcaster to Nocaster (the

though of a smaller diameter than

smaller neck pickup continued to be wound with 43-AWG

the earliest steel saddles. After

wire), and the rewiring of the Telecaster switching circuit to

1955, a new—and reposi-

include a genuine tone control early in 1952. In addition,

tioned—string retainer was used on the headstock, with

the look of the Kluson tuners changed slightly, from units

a thin metal “butterfly” clip replacing the original round

that were stamped “Kluson Deluxe” in a single line along

retainer. It was moved from its original placement near the

the center of the back up until mid-1951, to unbranded

G-string tuner to a position adjacent to the A-string tuner,

Klusons (a.k.a “no-line”) from mid-1951 until 1957. Less obvious to the eye, but evident to the left hand of

and the Fender logo was moved further up the headstock, to the other side of this string retainer, as a result.

any player who picked up the guitar, the shape of the back

Through the course of the ’50s the Telecaster’s finish also

of the neck, known as the “neck profile,” changed from a

evolved in a few subtle but noticeable ways, all of which were

thick “V” on the earliest Esquires and Broadcasters, to a

considered “blonde,” the model’s standard color. Broadcasters,

more rounded but still very full “D” shape around 1951.

Nocasters, and some of the first Telecasters had a finish that

This approximate shape would remain, although thinning

exhibited what might be called a very light beige hue, a color

out some, through the course of the early 1950s, until a

generally referred to now as “Butterscotch Blonde,” which

thinner “V” profile would reemerge around 1955 and

also showed off the distinctive grain of the ash used for the

remain for a couple of years. Although neck shapes tend

bodies. Toward the early part of the mid-’50s, the color took

to be tied fairly closely to different eras of the model, there

on more of a pale yellowy blonde look, then evolved toward a

is never a precise link between shape and date, because all of these necks were hand-shaped anyway, and displayed considerable variables, whatever period they were produced in. Toward late 1954, several other changes

whiter (and slightly less transparent) blonde by the late ’50s and early ’60s. All the while, Fender was willing to finish a guitar in a different “custom color” for any player who requested it, and after the mid-

were brought to the Telecaster, many of which

’50s, was willing to pay the additional 5 percent

were more noticeable, and thus constitute a

upcharge. Early nonstandard finishes were

demarcation point of sorts between the

known to have been done for a handful of

early guitars and those of the latter half of the decade. The most visible alteration was the move from a black fiber pickguard to a white plastic pickguard, a change that

An early white-guard 1954 Telecaster. Guitar courtesy of Elderly Instruments/ photo Dave Matchette

62 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 62 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 62

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 62

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1956 Telecaster. Guitar courtesy of Elderly Instruments, photo Dave Matchette

players who were regulars of the local scene, but custom-colored Telecasters from the early ’50s are extremely rare nonetheless. A.R. Duchossoir’s The Fender Telecaster shows a 1952 Esquire finished in copper, 1956 Esquire and Telecaster in pale green and red respectively, and a 1957 Telecaster in two-tone Stratocaster-style sunburst, all of which are highly prized collector’s items today. The open-ended offer to finish your Telecaster in a custom color was established in the 1957 Fender catalog, and by the late ’50s, the most common of these “standard custom” colors, if you will, were Black, Lake Placid Blue, Fiesta Red, and Shoreline Gold. The Telecaster and Esquire varied less from its standard color in the 1950s than would the Stratocaster (which came in sunburst as standard, with blonde being a custom color), but the factory upgrade would become a more popular option in the early ’60s. The shift toward bolder colors probably had something to do with Fender’s official publication of its first custom color chart in 1961, which offered fourteen different colors, in addition to blonde and sunburst. ACCEPTANCE BROADENS, COMPETITION INCREASES By the mid-1950s and shortly after, the Telecaster and Esquire were finding their way into the hands of many more star players than those of the little circle of Western Swing artists who had formed Leo’s original “test bed” of sorts. Fender’s debutante solidbodies would be the choice of several players of the new breed

with the format, too. A collaborative design between guitar star

of music soon known as rock ’n’ roll, initially transported there,

Les Paul and Gibson president Ted McCarty, the Les Paul Model

perhaps, by the crossover from country to rockabilly to straight-

exhibited many traditional features in character with Gibson style

out rock. Luther Perkins with Johnny Cash, Paul Burlison with

and construction, but it was an entirely solid instrument. The

the Johnny Burnette Rock ’N Roll Trio, James Burton with Ricky

body was made from mahogany, to which a maple top—carved

Nelson, and Russell Willaford with Gene Vincent and His Blue

into an arch—was glued. Unlike Fender’s guitars, there was bind-

Caps were all blazing the trail. Soon-to-be Elvis Presley guitarist

ing around the body top and fingerboard, the neck was glued in,

Scotty Moore even played an Esquire with his country outfit, the

and the pickguard was of the raised types used on archtop guitars.

Starlite Wranglers, before moving over to Gibson electrics, a tran-

For all this effort, Gibson included a significant design flaw in the

sition that early Tele-wielding bluesers Clarence “Gatemouth”

Les Paul Model as initially released: A shallow neck angle required

Brown and B.B. King would also make.

that the strings be wrapped under rather than over the bridge bar,

Gibson’s entry into the arena in 1952 had perhaps helped to legitimize the concept of the solid-body guitar somewhat, although this long-standing company had its teething troubles

resulting in a somewhat awkward playing position for the picking hand, which also had difficulty “palm muting” the strings. (continued on page 70)

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 63

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 63 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 63

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 63

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Luther Perkins

Johnny Cash tells it like it is. The faithful Luther Perkins was always at his side, armed with his favored Esquire. Cash, the failed door-to-door appliance salesman, and Perkins, the auto mechanic, were a perfect pair and teamed with bassist Marshall Grant. GAB Archive/Redferns/Getty

L

uther Perkins’s signature playing was far from the “hot Tele”

tell that the Man in Black was about to strut his stuff on your radio.

style of other early solid-body electric guitar heroes, but he

Upon hearing the twangy opening strains of “Folsom Prison Blues,”

was no less influential on the country guitar genre and possibly

“Get Rhythm,” or “Cry, Cry, Cry,” anyone who knows the remotest

backed more hits than the incendiary work of plenty of faster

thing about the guitar will identify Perkins’s tone as coming from

players. Not quite Travis picking, you could instead call it

a “Telecaster.” But Perkins was a simple player, and his choice of

“Perkins picking,” the alternating boom-chicka-boom-chicka-

guitar was even simpler. Throughout his career, he never actually

boom-chicka-boom riff that Luther Perkins laid down behind

played a Fender Telecaster, but instead preferred its single-pickup

so many Johnny Cash songs—and which became an instant

sibling, the Esquire.

64 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 64 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 64

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 64

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“When I first met [Luther Perkins], in 1954, he had a Telecaster that had lost the plate where the heel of your hands rests and a little Fender amplifier with an eight-inch speaker, the rig he used on my records at Sun, laying his right hand on the strings to mute them as he played. That’s where boom-chicka-boom came from, Luther’s right hand.”

—Johnny Cash, Cash: The Autobiography, 1997

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1928, Luther Perkins was raised mostly in Como, Mississippi, but returned to Memphis as a young adult in 1953 to work as a mechanic at a dealership called Automobile Sales Company. The head of his service department was one Roy Cash, older brother of Johnny Cash. Perkins—who had taught himself a little rhythm guitar and some simple lead licks a few years earlier—started playing on the side with coworkers Marshall Grant and Red Kernodle, who would pull out their guitars back in the dealership’s service department to pass the time when work was slow. When Johnny Cash was honorably discharged from the service in 1954, he followed his older brother Roy to Memphis, found work as an appliance salesman, and discovered a ready-made trio at Automobile Sales Company to back him. Kernodle would fall away before the outfit’s first audition with Sam Phillips of Sun Records, but Grant and Perkins—as the Tennessee Two—would back Johnny Cash for his history-making early recordings, and Perkins would be his right-hand man for a decade and a half. On record after record, hit after hit, Luther Perkins’s

L U T H E R P E R K I N S • 65

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 65 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 65

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 65

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Luther Perkins

Luther Perkins on stage with Johnny Cash and bassist Marshall Grant for the WSM Grand Ole Opry tour in 1956. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

boom-chicka-boom rhythm work and simple single-note leads

looks, or tone he preferred. The first, bought used in 1954, was a

provided the instrumental foils to Cash’s distinctively rich, deep

black-guard Esquire with some body damage and a volume control

vocals, while the guitarist himself—famously dry, deadpanned,

that was stuck on full. In 1956 Perkins acquired first a new white-

laconic—served as straight man to many an on-stage quip

guard Esquire with red custom finish (the instrument believed

from the singer.

to have been used on “I Walk the Line”), and later purchased a

Perkins went through several Esquires in his early days

white-guard Esquire finished in black that he customized with the

with Cash, trading up to acquire guitars whose condition,

initials “L.P.” on the upper bout. In 1958, though, he stepped up to

66 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 66 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 66

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 66

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

his favorite Esquire of the bunch, and the most archetypal exam-

Luther Perkins died on August 5, 1968, two days after suffer-

ple of its kind: a standard blonde white-guard model with maple

ing severe burns and smoke inhalation after a fire in his home,

neck. Heard on just about everything he did with Johnny Cash up

started when he fell asleep on the living room couch with a lit ciga-

until the mid-’60s, this late ’50s Esquire remained Perkins’s num-

rette. Although Johnny Cash went on to record several hits without

ber-one guitar, despite Fender’s gift of an early Jazzmaster (which

Perkins, many fans consider the 1955 to ’68 period, with Perkins on

Perkins did use on the famous Live from Folsom Prison concert

guitar, to be the Man in Black’s golden era.

and other mid- to late ’60s performances).

L U T H E R P E R K I N S • 67

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 67 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 67

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 67

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters Telecaster replica. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Muddy Waters sings the blues, circa 1960. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

O

ne of the true greats of the blues, Muddy Waters had the ability to sound like, well Muddy Waters, whatever guitar he played, and in whatever gig he

played it. Waters certainly played a range of acoustic and semi-acoustic electric guitars early in his career, including models by Gretsch, Stella, and Harmony. He was famously photographed in the early 1950s with a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop with P-90 pickups, too, but from the late ’50s onward, Muddy was a Tele man— and that Tele became an icon of his timeless breed of electric blues. Generally thought of today as more of a country or bare-bones rock ’n’ roll instrument, the basic, slab-bodied Tele isn’t associated with the blues as much as its sibling, the Fender Stratocaster, or Gibson’s ES-335 and Les Paul, but in the hands of Muddy Waters this simple, two-pickup, bolt-neck guitar epitomized the raw, wiry, and emotive voice of this artist’s instrumental side. The real magic in the Tele sound occurs at the bridge pickup, and although this might generate the definitive country lead guitar sound, it easily segued into gritty, emotive blues tones when played aggressively with the raw, unique style of a master such as Muddy Waters.

68 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 68 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 68

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 68

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Water’s first Telecaster appears to have been a white-guard example from 1957, which he took to England for his famous tour of 1958 and played at the Newport Jazz Festival of 1960. He is far and away most associated, however, with a red Telecaster that became his mainstay from the early ’60s until his death in 1983, a guitar that was distinguished by its black plastic Fender amp knobs, but otherwise appeared largely stock. This is the dark-bodied guitar in several photos from the ’60s and beyond, and the guitar on which Fender’s Muddy Waters Artist Series Telecaster was based. The original is often reported as having been a Telecaster Custom from 1962, as its headstock logo and Candy Apple Red finish might seem to imply—but the body lacks the Custom’s binding. It is likely that

playing style that has become a benchmark for a particular genre of

this guitar is actually the same blonde Tele from 1957, refinished

electric blues. He picked the bass notes on the lower three strings

and repaired with a circa-’62 Tele Custom neck. Other modifications

with a thumb pick, while strumming upwards with bare fingers on

included an extra screw hole to hold down a warping single-ply

the three treble strings for his melody and lead lines, which he fre-

plastic pickguard and Waters’s replacement of the standard knurled

quently executed with a small steel pinky slide. Waters strung his

metal Tele knobs with black, numbered Fender amplifier knobs.

Tele with heavy .012–.056 gauge strings but often played in open G

Sometime in the mid- to late-’70s, he also added a brass six-saddle

tuning, taking a little tension off, and he frequently used a capo, too.

bridge in place of the guitar’s original three-saddle bridge.

To hear the best of Muddy Waters’s fluid yet frenetic electric style,

As with any great artist, there’s far more to Muddy’s tone than just the guitar-and-amp combination, and Waters had an unusual

seek out live recordings of his great tunes such as “Mannish Boy,” “Rollin’ and Tumblin’,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” and “Rock Me.”

M U D D Y WAT E R S • 69

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 69 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 69

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 69

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

(continued from page 63)

along the base plate’s back “lip,” into which the strings would

Left uncorrected until later in 1953, at which time a more

be fed on their way over the saddles. This change altered one

functional stud-mounted “wraparound” bridge was introduced,

of the major elements of Telecaster construction, and, therefore,

this flaw in the Les Paul couldn’t have hurt the easy-playing

tone, which apparently didn’t sit well with players; late in 1959,

Telecaster’s reception any. Soon, however, the new Gibson

bowing to popular demand, Fender returned to the original

solidbody was proving a genuine rival to Fender, with more than

through-body string-loading design.

two thousand sold in 1953, and it wasn’t the only competition

As much as it might not seem “classic Tele,” however, plenty

hitting the scene. Gretsch launched its first volley with the Duo

of notable players will attest that these “top-loader” Telecasters, as

Jet, released late in 1953. Francis Hall also had his Electro-String

they have come to be known, can sound perfectly good. Noted

Music Corporation ramping up toward production. In 1954,

Telemaster Jim Campilongo, for one, has a ’59 top-loader that he

the company released its first solid-body electric, using the now-

has played for nearly twenty years, and upon which the Fender

familiar brand name that Hall had acquired in purchasing the

Custom Shop Jim Campilongo Signature Telecaster was based.

company the year before: Rickenbacker.

As good as they might be, though, top-loader Teles and Esquires made from late ’58 to late ’59 are generally slightly less desir-

TOP-LOADERS AND ROSEWOOD ’BOARDS

able to players and collectors today, given that deviation from

About midway through 1958, Fender adapted elements of the

the blueprint.

bridge design used on the Precision Bass to the Telecaster, dis-

Another, more lasting alteration to the Telecaster came in

pensing with the through-body stringing and back-loaded steel

1959, when Fender began to use a glued-on rosewood finger-

ferrules for a Telecaster bridge that simply had six holes drilled

board atop the maple neck. The new Fender Jazzmaster model

1960 Telecaster with accompanying “case candy.” Guitar and photo courtesy of Rumble Seat Music

70 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 70 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 70

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 70

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

that had debuted at the summer NAMM show the year before

be available, but until 1969 such necks were made much like the

had proved a successful test bed for the rosewood fingerboard.

rosewood fingerboards, with a separately milled piece of maple

While Fender perhaps felt the more traditional-looking and -feel-

glued to the face of the neck, a construction now known as a

ing neck was a necessity on any guitar with pretensions toward

“maple cap” neck.)

jazz and the more traditional musicians who played it, it seems

Regarding Telecasters and Stratocasters alike, many players

that many Fender dealers, and hence the reps at Fender Sales, had

have expressed a preference for the earlier slab-board necks,

been inquiring about the availability of a rosewood ’board on the

usually in the belief that the thicker piece of rosewood is some-

Tele and Strat for some time. The darker neck would ally Fender

how superior. In a discussion about all things vintage Fender,

guitars with more traditional instruments, and therefore make for

however, Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Chris Fleming

easier acceptance in corners that were still reticent to embrace the

expressed a preference for round-lam rosewood ’boards.

“plank.” Simultaneously, it would do away with the detrimental

“Somebody asked me why I thought Leo decided to do round

image of the smudged, poorly wearing maple fingerboards that

lams,” Fleming explained, “and although I can’t know for sure,

were being seen everywhere by this time, nearly ten years into the

I think it was for a couple of reasons. One is that he liked the

life of the solidbody.

idea of the maple being more of a majority of the wood, and he

One story, possibly apocryphal, goes that Leo Fender saw a

liked the idea that it was kind of a custom way to do it, it was

Telecaster in the hands of a performer on TV with dark, worn

proprietary. And I’d also like to think that he liked the sound of

patches on its maple fingerboard, and was swayed to take up

it. I feel like the slab ’board was the way that they did it because

the rosewood option out of dismay at this grimy look. The

they had to figure out how to do it quickly. Then they had to

truth is, maple is virtually as hard as rosewood, but unlike

tool up to make the rounded ’board and never turned back.”

rosewood, maple ’boards were finished with a clear coat of

Considered in this light, it’s clear that the thinner, rounded

nitrocellulose lacquer to seal the light wood and prevent it

rosewood ’board used after mid-1962 took more work to pro-

from absorbing dirt. The grimy patches on these fingerboards

duce, and the earlier flat-bottomed ’board never encompassed so

eventually appeared once the finish was worn away beneath the

thick a piece of rosewood that it would have been costlier, from

strings and the players’ fingertips, and once that coat of finish

a lumber-supply perspective, than the thinner board. In any case,

was gone, dirt, sweat, and grease took hold and began to dis-

Fleming, for one, declares the tonal difference between the two

color the exposed wood.

to be negligible, if detectible at all.

Whatever the impetus, the rosewood fingerboards brought a

As it happens, the Jazzmaster that had introduced the rose-

new look to the Telecaster and Esquire, as well as other Fenders,

wood fingerboard didn’t make much of an impression on jazz

and would serve as a demarcation point between the guitars of

guitarists in general, other than perhaps a few onto whom Fender

the ’50s and those of the early ’60s. For about the first two and

pushed the model for promotional purposes. The Telecaster, on

a half years, these separate fingerboards were sawn with a flat

the other hand, has had a longstanding place in the jazz world,

underside and glued to a flat neck face, a style that has since been

and, playing against type, has proved a surprisingly good fit for

dubbed the “slab board” for its thick, flat-bottomed appearance.

several prominent jazz artists. Ted Greene, Ed Bickert, and Jim

Part of the way through 1962, Fender introduced the practice

Mullen are noted Tele enthusiasts, Joe Pass used one on several of

of radiusing the face of the maple neck as well as both sides of

his early recordings, and later players such as Mike Stern and Bill

the fingerboard, enabling the use of a thinner piece of rosewood

Frisell are also devotees. As for the Jazzmaster, it seemed to strike

and creating what is now often referred to as a “laminated” or

a chord with many players on the burgeoning surf scene of the

“round-lam” fingerboard. (By request from the mid-’60s, and as

late ’50s and early ’60s, then became a favorite of many punk and

an official option from 1967, maple fingerboards would again

indie-rock players from the late ’70s onward.

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 71

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 71 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 71

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 71

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

THE TELECASTER GOES CUSTOM

Stratocasters since 1956, alder was making its first regular

Early in 1958 Fender began making plans for a line of Telecasters

appearance in Telecaster bodies, signaling, if not an entirely new

and Esquires with deluxe appointments. Named the Esquire and

direction, an alternative at least.

Telecaster Custom upon their eventual unveiling at the sum-

Relatively light, resonant swamp ash is the wood

mer NAMM show of 1959, the original Customs are typically

most associated with the Telecaster, and its broad,

characterized by a rosewood fingerboard, a sunburst finish

attractive grain is a big part of the classic look of the

trimmed with a traditional white body binding (some top

instrument, as well as a key ingredient in its sound.

only, some “double bound” with binding around both the

With Fender production hitting unforeseeable heights

top and the back), and a three-ply white/black/white pick-

in the late ’50s, however, good, lightweight ash was

guard made from nitrate. According to Forrest White, the

proving harder to come by on a consistent basis, and

first three renditions of what would become the Telecaster

alder provided a good alternative, particularly in guitars

Custom were made in 1958 for country star Buck Owens and

where the finish concealed the grain. Alder is also a good,

his guitarist Don Rich. Rather than the sunburst finish, those

resonant tonewood for guitar construction, and alder-

Teles were painted with a lacquer to which ground glass had

bodied Teles still sound very much like Teles (see Telecaster

been added to produce a “sparkle” finish. They were also made

Tone and Construction for a more in-depth examination

with the one-piece maple necks still in use at the time. This

of tonewoods), but its use does change the character, and

rendition of the birth of the “Custom” seems unlikely, how-

the look, of the guitar ever so slightly.

ever, since by most accounts Buck Owens and the younger

Through the course of the ’60s, an increasing number

Don Rich first met in 1959 and didn’t return to Bakersfield

of Telecasters would be made in alder. By the ’70s, ash

to make music together until 1960. Regardless, these guitars,

stocks would prove significantly heavier, resulting in many

essentially “custom Customs,” would become visual trade-

very weighty Teles. As much fuss as discriminating players

marks for Owens and Rich and would help to popularize

make over tonewoods today, Fender didn’t even publish

this variation of the breed.

the type of wood used in the guitars’ bodies in the 1950s

While sunburst was standard for the

and ’60s (nor, for that matter, did it widely

Custom models, several would be finished,

publish specs such as fingerboard radius,

by request, in a variety of custom colors,

nut width, neck profile and thickness,

proportionally more so than would stan-

and so on).

dard Telecasters and Esquires. While Teles MULTI-PLY PLASTICS AND

were generally less often ordered in custom colors than were Strats, Jazzmasters, and the

ARTISTS PROLIFERATE

new Jaguar of 1962, it seems that players

Midway through 1959, Fender added three

willing to break tradition and play a

more screws and repositioned the original

Telecaster with a bound body were also

five used to affix the pickguard on the

more likely to be enticed by the cus-

Telecaster and Esquire to correct the

tom-color option.

minor warping that was occurring with

Meanwhile, beneath those cus-

many of the original single-ply white

tom-color and sunburst Telecaster

’guards, which would noticeably lift

and Esquire Customs, a new timber

along the upper edge between the bridge

option was in evidence. In use on sunburst

and the neck in particular. Then, late in 1960 Custom Telecaster. Fretted Americana

72 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 72 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 72

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 72

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1963 Fender altered this minor adornment further by adding the three-ply nitrate pickguard of the Custom and custom-colored models to all Telecaster and Esquire guitars. Early in 1965, however, these flammable nitrate ’guards, often called “green ’guards” for their faint green hue, would be superseded on all models by three-ply plastic pickguards. Less likely to burst into flames in the warehouse, these pickguards would also prove resistant to the warping and shrinkage that would plague original nitrate ’guards, albeit not for quite a few years yet, in most cases. By the front edge of the mid-’60s, Tele love had already spread well beyond the country scene that had first embraced it. Blues legend Muddy Waters was plying his trade on a Telecaster, while Steve Cropper was using a rosewood ’board Tele to churn out countless hits with the Stax Records house band, better known as Booker T and the MGs. Bob Dylan chose a white-guard ’58 Telecaster in his controversial decision to go electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, while Mike Bloomfield played a ’64 Tele in the band behind him. Across the pond, the use of a Telecaster or Esquire at one time or another by all three Yardbirds guitarists—Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page—was evidence of its proliferation on the British scene. And back in the United States, of course, more and more country players were continuing to prove that the Tele was the preeminent king of twang from Nashville to Austin to So-Cal, including Roy Nichols and Merle Haggard, as well as former Buddy Holly sideman-gone-solo-artist, Waylon Jennings, with

1960 Custom Telecaster. Fretted Americana

his ’53 Tele with tooled-leather cover. At Fender itself, though, an event of far bigger import was in the works as the middle of the decade approached—a transition that would, for many hardcore Telecaster fans at least, draw a line under the Fender that they knew and loved. (continued on page 92)

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 73

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 73 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 73

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 73

16/7/20 7:54 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Albert Collins Albert Collins Signature Telecaster in natural finish. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Promotional photo of Albert Collins, circa 1960. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

A

ppropriately known as the “Iceman” for his blistering trebleheavy tone, bluesman Albert Collins also wore the honorary

a.k.a. “Master of the Telecaster,” a tribute to his association with the debutante Fender solidbody that he made very much his own. Born in Leona, Texas, in 1932, Collins was actually led to the Telecaster by his love for the playing of fellow Texan Clarence “Gatemouth”

At the age of seventeen, Collins formed his own band, the

Brown, an early Telecaster proponent who would be better known

Rhythm Rockers, which made a name for itself in Houston’s Third

in later years for his use of a Gibson Firebird. In emulation of

Ward before he jumped ship to record and tour with a string of other

Brown—with whom Collins had performed on stage at the age of

artists, including Big Mama Thornton and Little Richard (where he

fifteen, during both players’ pre-Tele years—Collins capoed his

filled Jimi Hendrix’s rather large shoes). In the late-1950s Collins

own Telecaster high up the neck and developed a boppy, horn-

had the first glimmer of solo success in the form of a single called

lick-inspired blues style that was one of the most distinctive

“The Freeze.” The Iceman theme gained momentum with a mil-

in the genre.

lion-selling single, “Frosty,” in 1962, followed by his first major

74 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 74 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 74

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 74

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“Teles can take a lot of road trips. I’ve dropped mine a lot of times, man, and it ain’t hurt nothin’. Just put scratches on it.”

—Albert Collins

solo album, Truckin’ With Albert Collins, released on Blue Thumb Records in 1965. Appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1969, the Filmore West in 1971, and the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 1975 further solidified his status, however, as did the Grammy Award-winning album Showdown, recorded at the peak of his career in 1985, with Robert Cray and Johnny Copeland. In the early ’50s, unable to afford the object of his desires, Collins had put a Fender Telecaster neck on the body of a lesser make of electric guitar. He bought his first proper Fender Telecaster in the late ’50s, but was ultimately best known for his use of a 1966 Telecaster Custom with a maple-capped neck and a Gibson humbucker added in the neck position, the guitar on which the

stage (a blisteringly loud Fender Quad Reverb from around the mid-

Fender Custom Shop Albert Collins Signature Telecaster would

’70s onward), Collins would strut down into the audience while still

be based. Always a dazzling live performer, Albert Collins was

playing, or even leave the stage at the end of the set while the band

known for his interactive approach to the stage as much as for

still played, without dropping a lick. Collins became ill while on tour

his frenetic, electrifying playing style and searing tone. Using an

in Switzerland in the summer of 1993, and he died the following

extra-long cable between his Telecaster and his amplifier up on

November at the age of sixty-one.

A L B E R T C O L L I N S • 75

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 75 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 75

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 75

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Steve Cropper Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MGs coaxes a soulful riff from his Telecaster, circa 1965. Pictoral Press Ltd./Alamy

C

halk this one up in the columns for “tasteful chops” and “playing for the song.” A shred-meister he is not, but Steve Cropper has authored some

of the most distinctive guitar parts, both solo and rhythm, in all of popular music. What Cropper might lack in flash he makes up for in an abundance of cool taste. Witness the sleek, spare licks on everything from Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man,” to Otis Redding’s “(Sitting on the) Dock of the Bay” (which Cropper co-wrote) and “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now),” to Booker T. and the M.G.s’ instrumental classic “Green Onions,” and you’ll instantly hear what players in the know have been talking about since Cropper laid down these cool sounds in the early to mid-’60s. You don’t have to play a flurry of notes to be a genius on the guitar—and when you want to keep it simple, there’s arguably no better instrument than the Fender Telecaster.

76 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 76 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 76

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 76

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“I had heard some Telecasters in the music shop, and I had an opportunity to buy a used Esquire. I remember stripping it and sanding it down, then I went to Western Auto and bought a can of what they called Candy Apple Red spray, and with the brown wood, it sort of turned out a purplish color. That’s the guitar I used on ‘Green Onions’ and a bunch of other stuff. I wish I still had it.”

—Steve Cropper

On those early Stax recordings, including 1962’s “Green Onions,” Cropper is known to have played a 1956 Fender Esquire, the single-pickup version of the Telecaster. In 1963, however, he acquired the blonde Telecaster with rosewood fingerboard that he played on the majority of the many hits to which he contributed and used in most of his live performances for many years. Both were simple, solid, roadworthy working-man’s guitars, and both sounded roughly similar, especially in Cropper’s very able hands. Cropper served as the guitarist for Booker T. and the M.G.s, the Stax Records house band, in the label’s Memphis studio and out on tour throughout the 1960s. In this role, Cropper and that blonde ’63 Tele contributed their lithe, slightly countrified R&B licks to an unprecedented number of hits by other artists, including Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Carla and Rufus Thomas, Wilson Pickett, Johnnie Taylor, Eddie Floyd, Albert King, The Staple Singers, and several others. In the course of doing so, Cropper and his bandmates helped lay the foundations of soul music.

S T E V E C R O P P E R • 77

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 77 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 77

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 77

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Michael Bloomfield

Bloomfield and his white-guard Telecaster back Bob Dylan at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. David Gahr/Getty Images

B

lues master Michael Bloomfield is perhaps most associated with “fatter” sounding Gibson Les Pauls, but his first ascent to worldwide

fame was made with a Fender Telecaster in hand—and one performance in particular is firmly etched in the annals of rock history (and folk music infamy). When Bob Dylan boldly “went electric” before a raging crowd of folk purists at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, a Telecaster was his weapon of choice. And right behind him, wailing on a matching white-guard Tele, was his lead guitarist, Michael Bloomfield. Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1943, Michael Bloomfield was first drawn to the guitar at the age of thirteen by the sounds of seminal rock ’n’ rollers such as Elvis Presley and his guitarist Scotty Moore. Soon, however, Bloomfield was tapping into Chicago’s booming blues, hanging out in the clubs on Chicago’s South Side, listening to legends such as Otis Spann, Howlin’ Wolf, and Muddy Waters. While still only in his mid-teens,

78 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 78 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 78

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 78

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“I saw Bob Dylan at a few parties and then out of the clear blue sky, he called me on the phone to cut a record, which was ‘Like a Rolling Stone.’ So I bought a Fender, a really good guitar for the first time in my life, without a case—a Telecaster.”

—Michael Bloomfield

Bloomfield himself became a stand-out as one of a few white youths

psychedelic-leaning East-West—Bloomfield and his Tele trucked

in the crowd at the predominantly Black establishments—and even

east for much of the summer of 1965. In June, he put the Tele to

harder to miss once he started hopping up on stage, guitar in hand,

work recording the first batch of New York sessions that would

and asking to sit in with the greats (often digging in without awaiting

become Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. Then, after joining

the “yes” or “no” reply).

Dylan in Newport, Rhode Island, to be booed off the stage by the

Bloomfield became widely accepted in Chicago, and soon

sandals-and-beards crowd on July 25, he returned to NYC for

beyond, as a musician in his own right. He performed and recorded

another week of sessions to complete the famous album. Legend

with blues originators such as Big Joe Williams, Sleepy John Estes,

has it that Bloomfield dragged the Telecaster from gig to gig with-

and Little Brother Montgomery, and drew the attention of legendary

out a proper case to put it in, the journey taking its toll in the wear

blues producer John Hammond, who signed him to a contract with

and tear soon evident on the guitar.

CBS in 1964. With his initial CBS recordings languishing unreleased,

Even after revising his sound with the Les Paul in the late

however, Bloomfield joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, provid-

’60s, Bloomfield remained fond of the Telecaster and occasionally

ing an able foil for the singer and guitarist’s own talents.

dragged one back on stage. Photos of the band Mike Bloomfield

Although a Fender Duo-Sonic first accompanied Bloomfield

and Friends performing live in 1973 show him wielding another

into his professional career, in late 1964 or early ’65 he acquired

old white-guard Tele with rosewood fingerboard, first unmolested,

an “L” serial number white-guard Telecaster with rosewood fin-

then later in the year updated with a crude psychedelic paint job. In

gerboard, which would be his main squeeze until Les Paul fever

the late ’70s, he also occasionally played a later Tele with a maple

won him over in 1966. In that brief time, though, the young blueser

fingerboard, his legendary Les Paul having been surrendered in

made some major noises with his Tele. Between fiery exchanges

Vancouver, Canada, in compensation for an abandoned performance

with Butterfield in the Blues Band—including the 1965 release

date. Michael Bloomfield was found dead in his car, having suffered

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the more experimental,

an apparent drug overdose, on February 15, 1981.

M I C H A E L B L O O M F I E L D • 79

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 79 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 79

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 79

16/7/20 5:00 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1964 Telecaster in faded Sonic Blue finish with Parsons-White B-Bender. Outline Press Ltd.

1963 Telecaster in a Charcoal Frost custom color. Outline Press Ltd.

1963 Telecaster in Fiesta Red. Outline Press Ltd.

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 80 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 80

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 80

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Roy Buchanan

Roy Buchanan makes his Telecaster, Nancy, sing at Alex Cooley’s Electric Ballroom in Atlanta, Georgia, in June 1975. Tom Hill/ WireImage/Getty Images

as “the world’s foremost Tele master,” upon the broadcast of a 1971 PBS television documentary entitled The Best Unknown Guitarist in the World. With Nancy by his side, he came to be known as a guitarist without parallel in any genre, his haunting pinched harmonics, faux-steel bends, and lightning-swift single-note runs unequaled by

F

ar better-known guitar stars have logged time on iconic pre-

any other player in the jazz, blues, or country worlds. But he failed

CBS Telecasters, perhaps, but the 1953 Telecaster that Roy

to gain the recognition that players and fans in-the-know were con-

Buchanan called “Nancy” is widely considered one of the most

vinced he deserved—or the adequate financial compensation that

iconic vintage Teles in existence. Many factors contribute to Nancy’s

might have come with it—before his death in 1998.

status, not least of which was Buchanan’s raw skill as a Tele-

Aside from its heavily worn finish and beautifully played-in

meister. Another factor is Nancy’s condition. Where the Telecasters

neck, Nancy remains in much the same condition as when it left

and Esquires of Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, and others were

the Fender factory in 1953. In addition to natural distress, Nancy

hacked, chopped, and modified over the years to suit their owners’

displays Buchanan’s name etched into its back and three friction

requirements, Nancy remained largely original, barring some

marks behind the bridge. Nancy also appears to have had jumbo

necessary routine maintenance and one bungled modification.

frets installed at some point and carries a hole that was drilled right

Buchanan got his start in the early days of rock ’n’ roll, record-

through the headstock, piercing the “n” of the Fender logo, pur-

ing and touring with Dale Hawkins in 1958, then with Dale’s cousin

portedly a botched effort by Buchanan to install a B-bender of his

Ronnie Hawkins’s group, which, with young Robbie Robertson

own devising (though he would often tease interviewers with the

alongside him on guitar, would eventually morph into The Band.

tale that he had “drilled that hole so he could hang Nancy up

Dissatisfied with life on the road, however, Buchanan settled in the

on a nail in the wall”). Nancy is currently in the collection of

greater Washington, DC area, where he built a reputation as one of

Mac Yasuda and has been displayed on loan to the Fullerton

the hottest players on the scene. He eventually gained some fame

Museum Center in Fullerton, California.

R O Y B U C H A N A N • 81

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 81 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 81

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 81

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Waylon Jennings

Waylon Jennings picks his trusty Telecaster at the Palomino Club in Los Angeles on August 16, 1973. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

W

e think of him today as one of the original “country

He slowly made his way back into recording and live perfor-

outlaws”—alongside anti-Nashville rebels such as Johnny

mance. By the mid-’60s he had developed his songwriting chops

Cash, Willie Nelson, and Merle Haggard—but Waylon Jennings’s

alongside his own inimitable singing and playing styles, catch-

career has its roots in seminal 1950s rock ’n’ roll. A native of

ing the attention of the prevailing music scene. When he started

Littlefield, Texas, Jennings played bass in Buddy Holly’s band for

to get serious about performing again, his bandmates decided

what would be the star’s final tour in late 1958 and early ’59. When

he needed a good Telecaster and purchased a used 1953 Tele

the band booked a small airplane to take them between shows

that they had adorned with a custom-fitted, tooled-leather cover

mid-tour, Jennings famously gave his seat up to J.P. “The Big

before presenting it to Jennings. Considered necessities by some,

Bopper” Richardson, and therefore avoided the crash that took

due to the hard knocks that guitars received on the road in those

the lives of Holly, Richardson, and teen idol Ritchie Valens.

pre–flight case days, leather covers had been seen in country cir-

Jennings laid low in the early ’60s, moving to Phoenix,

cles before. But Jennings’s eventual fame, and the unmistakable

Arizona, to work in radio and put Holly’s death behind him.

look of that black leather cover with white floral work, helped

82 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 82 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 82

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 82

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

establish these erstwhile protective devices as badges of honor for country pickers everywhere. With his new country persona firmly in place, Jennings signed first to the newly formed A&M records, but his contract was bought out by RCA, and in 1965 he traveled to Nashville to begin a long and successful recording career. He developed an instantly recognizable, spanky-twang style of guitar playing. Using a light touch that often incorporated bare thumb-and-finger playing for rhythm work and a pick for lead runs, Jennings combined driving lowstring hammer-on and pull-off riffs with evocative upper-fret double stops, making frequent use of the modulation effects of which he was fond (tremolo in the early days, then phaser pedals after these units reached the market)—all of which gave his hallowed 1953 Telecaster a sound like no other guitar on the scene. Beneath the cover, Jennings’s secondhand black-guard Tele remained largely unadulterated for years. In the early ’80s he did eventually swap its original three-brass-saddles bridge for a ’70s six-saddle Tele bridge, and EMG pickups finally replaced the thirtyplus-year-old Fender single-coils. But through it all, the guitar never lost that fluid, slappy, swirly twang that was so recognizable as the “Waylon sound.”

WAY L O N J E N N I N G S • 83

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 83 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 83

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 83

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1956 Esquire. Fretted Americana

84 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 84 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 84

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 84

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 85

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 85 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 85

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 85

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Roy Nichols & Merle Haggard

Merle Haggard Signature Telecaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Haggard’s role on the Telecaster most often covered rhythm duties. Here, he performs in Anaheim, California, circa 1980. George Rose/Getty Images

N

ot unlike Buck Owens and Don Rich, Merle Haggard and his trusty sideman, Roy Nichols, formed a Tele-wielding duo that will forever be interlinked in the annals

of country music, tagged as the “Outlaw” kin to the hard-twanging Bakersfield sound. Although Merle Haggard’s name would achieve wider fame, giving Roy Nichols his own greatest fame by association, Nichols was an established guitarist with a good reputation on the country scene long before Haggard. He even gave his would-be boss a leg up in the industry shortly after his release from prison. Born in Chandler, Arizona, in 1932, Nichols grew up mainly in Fresno, California. He learned to play the guitar at the age of eleven, and just three years later, he played at local dancehalls to supplement the family income. Shortly before his sixteenth birthday, Nichols hit the road with the hillbilly band The Maddox Brothers and Rose—the first truly professional gig in a career that would land him jobs with Johnny Cash, Cliffie Stone, Wynn Steward, Lefty Frizzell, and other significant names on the country circuit in the 1950s and early ’60s. From the late ’50s onward, Nichols was best associated with a white-guard ’57 Telecaster, although he also played several others.

86 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 86 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 86

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 86

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“The Telecaster was not for the timid; you had to be a bulldog to play a Telecaster, because it’s hard to play. It doesn’t respond like a lot of guitars, so you have to play it with a different attitude, and that makes the results different.”

—Merle Haggard

Merle Haggard was born in 1937 in Oildale, California, a sub-

me on the spot. . . . Because of Roy, my career commenced. He was

urb of Bakersfield, to parents who had come west from Oklahoma

the stylist that set the pace.” Haggard played bass with Stewart

looking to escape the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. The

for a time, with Nichols on guitar, while also working on his dream

death of his father in the mid-’40s seemed to tip Haggard toward

of a solo career. In the early years of this effort, he scored a minor

delinquency and petty crimes that landed him in one juvenile facil-

hit with Wynn Stewart’s “Sing a Sad Song” in 1964, and a Top 10

ity after another. During one stint on the outside, Haggard attended

the following year with Lynn Anderson’s “(My Friends Are Gonna

a Lefty Frizzell show and, after singing along to several numbers

Be) Strangers.” In 1965 he formed the band Merle Haggard and

from his seat, was asked to join the artist on stage. This taste of

the Strangers for his first U.S. tour, hired Nichols on guitar, and hit

the limelight launched his efforts to make it in the music business,

the ground running. The Tele-totin’ outlaws would work together

and Haggard was soon performing at venues around Bakersfield.

until 1987, scoring thirty-eight number one songs on the Billboard

In 1957, however, Haggard was arrested for attempted robbery

Country Chart, including “I’m a Lonesome Fugitive,” “Mama Tried,”

of a bar in Bakersfield and was sentenced to three years in San

“Okie From Muskogee,” and “The Fightin’ Side of Me.” While Haggard was a mean picker himself, his role on the

Quentin Prison. His stay in the notorious adult facility showed Haggard the

Telecaster more often covered rhythm duties (which he frequently

error of his ways. After his release in 1960 he set about walking

handled on an acoustic guitar, too). Nichols, on the other hand, was

the straight and narrow. A trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, later that year

a consummate twang artist, and one of the early pioneers of hybrid

took Haggard to a show featuring Wynn Stewart and Roy Nichols,

picking, a style that employs both a flat pick and the middle and

and what would be a life-changing meeting. “Roy wanted to get off

ring fingers of the right hand. He was also adept at slick faux-steel

and go to the restroom or something,” Haggard told the Associated

bends, licks that have become staples of the country guitar style,

Press in 2001. “He said, ‘Here, play this thing,’ and handed me his

often pre-bending notes before picking them to create effective

guitar. I sung ‘Devil Woman’ and Wynn Stewart saw me and hired

pedal-steel sounds.

R O Y N I C H O L S & M E R L E H A G G A R D • 87

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 87 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 87

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 87

17/7/20 12:01 PM 17/7/20 1:05 PM

Buck Owens & Don Rich

Buck Owens and The Buckaroos. From left: Bob Morris, Don Rich, Buck Owens, Willie Cantu, and Tom Brumley.

A

s creators of “The Bakersfield Sound,” Buck Owens and his

Given the location, the sound, and the images of both, it’s as

sidekick Don Rich virtually defined “twang” as understood by

if Buck Owens was made for the Telecaster, or the Telecaster was

many country Telecaster players today. Alvis Edgar “Buck” Owens

made for Buck Owens. By the late ’50s, he was making a name for

Jr. was born in 1929 in the small town of Sherman, Texas, on the

himself in Bakersfield, further afield in California, and soon beyond,

Oklahoma border. At the height of the Great Depression, when Buck

playing a working-class breed of country—more urban, blue-collar

was eight years old, his family moved to Tempe, Arizona, in search

than the cowboy country that had largely preceded it—and doing

of jobs, and the young Owens himself worked at a range of laboring

so with the ultimate blue-collar electric guitar in hand: a Fender

jobs before and after school—pursuing his growing love of music

Telecaster. The Bakersfield Sound was virtually driven by the Tele’s

in what little spare time remained—before dropping out of high

low-E string, that growly, bent twang that practically defined the

school altogether. He married at the age of eighteen, and, not long

genre and suited Owens’s own vocal twang so well.

after, set his sights on Bakersfield, California, after passing through

In 1958, Buck left Bakersfield for a suburb outside Tacoma,

the town on his trucking route and deciding he liked what he

Washington, where he had bought a share in the small local radio

heard in the music clubs there. In 1951, Owens packed up his

station KAYE. His own radio appearances led to spots on local TV,

young family, moved to Bakersfield, and set about becoming

where, early in 1959, Owens was introduced to a talented young

a central figure not only in the local scene, but, eventually, in

fiddle player named Donald Eugene Ulrich. Born in Tumwater,

country music in general.

Washington, in 1941, Ulrich had learned the fiddle as a child, but also

88 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 88 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 88

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 88

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Owens signed one of his signature red-white-and-blue metalflake Telecasters to Dick Clark and wife Kari Wigton. The guitar was sold at auction in 2011. Courtesy Julien’s Auctions (juliensauctions.com)

B U C K O W E N S & D O N R I C H • 89

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 89 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 89

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 89

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Buck Owens & Don Rich

played a mean guitar—something the rest of the world would soon understand when he was heard wielding his distinctive Telecaster licks right alongside Owens, using his new nom de twang Don Rich. Back in California, Owens recorded a series of sides for Capitol Records, including “Under Your Spell Again,” which eventually rose to number four on the Billboard Country Chart. In 1960, Owens returned to Bakersfield—taking Don Rich with him—where the pair formed the band the Buckaroos and set about becoming a fixture in country music. Beyond his Tele-

sparkle Teles and the sharp “urban western” suits that the band

pickin’, Rich lent perfect close harmonies to Owens’s lead vocal

wore on stage defined the aesthetic edge of Buckaroo fever, fueled

throughout their time together, their voices merging so sympatheti-

by hits like “Love Is Gonna Live Here” and “Act Naturally” in 1963,

cally that it was often difficult to tell who was singing harmony and

the first of what would be twenty-one number one singles on the

who was singing lead.

Billboard Country Chart.

From the early 1960s, Rich and Owens had distinctive sil-

Beginning in 1969, Buck Owens joined Roy Clark as host of

ver, gold, and eventually red-white-and-blue sparkle Telecaster

TV’s country music and comedy show Hee Haw, a leap to greater

Customs made by Fender, while Buckaroo bassist Doyle Holly

fame that, conversely, diluted the Buckaroos’ appeal to country pur-

often played a matching sparkle Jazz Bass. Together, the

ists. After a day spent in the recording studio in July 1974, Don

90 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 90 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 90

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 90

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Rich headed home on his motorcycle and suffered a fatal crash

Dwight Yoakam, whom he joined for several live appearances and

near San Luis Obispo, California. The loss of his close friend and

the duet “Streets of Bakersfield” on Yoakam’s 1988 album Buenas

musical companion was a major blow to Owens, although he con-

Noches from a Lonely Room. On the evening of March 25, 2006,

tinued to fulfill his Hee Haw hosting duties until 1986. After several

Buck Owens gave his final performance—at his own Crystal Palace

years of retirement from the performance stage, Owens was lured

restaurant and club in Bakersfield—and died in his sleep that night,

back into the spotlight in the late ’80s by the “new country” singer

of an apparent heart attack.

B U C K O W E N S & D O N R I C H • 91

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 91 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 91

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 91

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

(continued from page 73)

gives plenty of late-’60s Teles more of the look of those made from late 1954 to mid ’59, although

DECLINING QUALITY

these lacked the dark wood “teardrop” behind

On January 5, 1965, Fender Musical Instruments was officially

the nut and the “skunk stripe” at the back

sold to Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. Fender aficiona-

that filled the routes where the truss rods were

dos mark CBS’s acquisition of the company as the start of a

installed, since the truss rod was installed in

decline—at first gradual, then more pronounced—in the qual-

these two-piece necks from the front before the

ity of Fender guitars. As such, the term “pre-CBS” has come to

maple fingerboard was glued on.

stand as the demarcation point between the more valuable and

Among the more detrimental changes of the

collectible vintage Telecasters (and other Fenders)

late ’60s, however, was the move to polyester fin-

and the less desirable later examples, although many

ishes around 1968. This “thick-skinned” finish,

collectible Teles were produced throughout the mid

with its resilient, plasticky feel, was achieved

to late ’60s as well.

with as many as ten to fifteen coats of polyester

Given that the changes brought to the Telecaster

paint, and is believed by many players to severely

format occurred gradually, and were largely superfi-

choke the resonance—and therefore the tone—

cial at that, the guitars built in the mid ’60s—during

of any guitar that carries it. Even beyond these

the first few years of CBS ownership—still very much

points, more significant issues of declin-

followed the standards set out in the golden years of

ing quality control, driven by

production under Leo Fender’s supervision. In February

increased production and an eye

of 1965, just a month after the CBS takeover was made

more on raw sales figures than

official, the clay dots on the rosewood fingerboards of

the quality of the instruments,

both Stratocasters and Telecasters were replaced by

were beginning to take their toll

slightly larger pearloid dots, and plastic pickguards

on Fender quality by the late ’60s,

took over from nitrate on all models. In 1967

and certainly the early ’70s.

the “maple-cap” neck was officially introduced (maple necks made with a glued-on

NOTABLE POST-CBS

maple fingerboard, rather than being a one-

TELECASTERS

piece maple neck as used on guitars of

Whatever individual players

the ’50s). This option

and collectors feel about the decline of Fender guitars under CBS, several worthy Telecasters were nevertheless produced in the

1970 Telecaster in Candy Apple Red. Outline Press Ltd.

late ’60s and early ’70s, many of which even pique the interest of serious collectors. Some of these were merely alternative cosmetic treatments, while others represented an entire redrawing of the sonic blueprint. As the late ’60s approached, Fender found stocks of ash and alder getting heavier and heavier, and sought ways to relieve

1966 Telecaster in Lake Placid Blue. Fretted Americana

the weight. Some early efforts included removing additional

92 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 92 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 92

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 92

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1968 Telecaster in a rare Teal Green custom color. Doug Youland/Willie’s American Guitars

wood from the body beneath the area covered by the pickguard,

glued to the back. To further distinguish the model, Fender also

resulting in a rare breed of guitar known as the “smugglers

designed an elongated pearloid pickguard for the Thinline,

Tele.” Then in 1968, turning this concealed effort into a virtue,

to which the volume and tone controls and selector switch

Fender introduced the Telecaster Thinline. Using bodies of ash

were mounted, in addition to the neck pickup. Otherwise,

or mahogany—the latter previously seen in a limited number

the Telecaster Thinline was equipped exactly like the standard

of Mahogany Telecasters in the early ’60s—Fender routed three

Telecaster, although its chambers altered the resonance of the

chambers into the wood from the back, then carved an f-hole

body somewhat, and therefore introduced a slightly rounder,

on the bass side of the body front to advertise this semi-solid

more scooped tone to the Telecaster template.

construction, and capped off the work with a solid fillet of wood

(continued on page 104)

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 93

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 93 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 93

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 93

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Clarence White

White and his famous B-Bender perform with the Byrds at Carmichael Auditorium, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1971. Ric Carter/Alamy

P

erhaps as well known, if not better known in the relevant

White established himself as a session player in and around Los

circles, for his work on a Martin dreadnought acoustic guitar

Angeles, appearing on recordings by the Monkees and founding Byrd

with an enlarged soundhole, Clarence White was nevertheless a

Gene Clark. He soon found inroads into the fledgling folk-rock scene

central figure in the electric-folk boom of the mid- to late ’60s and

of the mid-’60s, which was based largely around the revolving-door

helped to calcify the country-rock scene in the early ’70s. Not only

roster of the Byrds, and, Telecaster in hand, White introduced a solid

did he frequently strap on a Telecaster for these adventures, but he

electric country element to music that had previously leaned more

also proved a major innovator and co-inventor in the process.

toward psychedelic folk. White played sessions on several Byrds

He was born Clarence Joseph LeBlanc in Lewiston, Maine, in

records from 1966 to 1968 (including the influential Sweetheart of

1944 to French-Canadian parents who had emigrated from New

the Rodeo with Gram Parsons in his short-lived stint as a Byrd),

Brunswick. When he was ten years old, the family moved west to

and was asked to be a permanent member in 1968, following the

California, and soon after, Clarence and his brothers Roland and Eric

departure of Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman.

Jr. formed the Little Country Boys. After several early recordings and

Prior to this point, though, while working recording sessions

appearances on the Andy Griffith Show, the Little Country Boys

with drummer Gene Parsons around 1965 (who would join the

evolved into the Kentucky Colonels in 1962—but the encroach-

Byrds alongside White), and playing together in the seminal country

ment of rock ’n’ roll on the folk scene brought a new direction to

band Nashville West at night, White and Parsons began develop-

White’s music, and the Colonels disbanded in 1965.

ing ideas for a string-bending device that could be used with the

94 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 94 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 94

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 94

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The home-cooked route cover on the back of the original B-Bender. Rusty Russell

C L A R E N C E W H I T E • 95

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 95 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 95

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 95

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Clarence White

The mechanism machined by Parsons and installed in a route in White’s 1954 Tele bends the B string a whole tone sharp when the guitarist pushes a lever that replaces the upper strap button. Rusty Russell 96 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 96 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 96

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 96

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“I have [Clarence White’s B-Bender] Telecaster, and that guitar has a following. Almost everywhere we play, people come up to me and want to touch it. That guitar is always welcome to anyone who wants to play it. That guitar is to be shared. I feel lucky to even be holding it. . . . That guitar has the original dirt on it. I’ve never touched one thing about that guitar.”

—Marty Stuart

traditional

guitar.

White defined the requirements, while Parsons employed his earlier experience working in his father’s machine shop: the result was a mechanism that was installed in a route in the back of the body of White’s 1954 Telecaster, which bent the B string a whole tone sharp when the guitarist pushed down on a lever that replaced the upper strap button. Patented in 1968, the Parsons/White B-Bender has remained the first choice of players seeking authentic pedal-steel sounds from their Telecasters. As the Byrds’ touring schedule slowed in 1972, prior to Roger McGuinn’s breaking up the 1973 line-up and reforming with the original pre-1968 members, Clarence White struck up a musical association with country-rock pioneer and former Byrd Gram Parsons. Some time after joining Parsons, Emmylou Harris, and other artists on a three-date mini-tour, White reunited with his brothers for a one-off Kentucky Colonels show on July 14, 1973, and was struck and killed by a drunk driver in the early hours of the Detail of the Parsons/White B-Bender. Patented in 1968, the B-Bender remains the first choice of players seeking authentic pedal-steel sounds from their Teles. Rusty Russell

following morning. His ’54 Telecaster with the original B-Bender is currently owned and played by country and bluegrass artist Marty Stuart, who purchased it from White’s widow, Susie, in 1980.

C L A R E N C E W H I T E • 97

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 97 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 97

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 97

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Jimmy Page Jimmy Page’s heavily decorated Telecaster, seen here in Copenhagen in 1969, was perhaps most famously employed on the solo in “Stairway to Heaven” in 1971—a solo that no doubt sent countless would-be guitar heroes mistakenly in search of Gibson Les Pauls. Jan Persson/Redferns/Getty Images

A

lthough he attained some success as a professional musician

London six-stringers, listening

before either Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck, particularly as a

to records by bluesers such as

working session guitarist on London’s busy studio scene, Jimmy

Buddy Guy and B.B. King, but he

Page was the last of the three to take up guitar duties with the

was arguably more influenced by rock ’n’ rollers like Elvis sidemen

Yardbirds. As it would come to pass, however, Page made more

James Burton and Scotty Moore. Page’s early fluency on the instru-

significant use of a Telecaster throughout his career than either

ment landed him in several up-and-coming cover bands, which

Clapton or Beck, and he never entirely discarded the model, even

transitioned to a burgeoning studio career. By the mid-1960s he

though he became more commonly associated with the Gibson

was one of the first-call session aces on London’s pop and blues-

Les Paul and, occasionally, the EDS-1275 doubleneck.

rock scene.

Born in Heston in West London in 1944, and raised mainly

The first time the Yardbirds knocked on the door to ask him to

in Epsom, Surrey, essentially another London suburb, Jimmy

join the band (replacing the departed Eric Clapton), Page declined,

Page found much the same path to the guitar as his fellow

and passed the job along to friend Jeff Beck. Less than a year later,

98 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 98 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 98

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 98

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“The ‘Stairway to Heaven’ solo was done when I pulled out the Telecaster, which I hadn’t used for a long time, plugged it into the Supro. . . . That’s a different sound entirely from the rest of the first album. It was a good versatile setup.”

—Jimmy Page

“It’s more of a fight with the Telecaster, but there are rewards.”

—Jimmy Page

departed in 1968, he soldiered on as the New Yardbirds, hiring however, in the summer of 1966, he was again approached, this

singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham to avoid reneging

time to fill the shoes of departing bassist Paul Samwell-Smith until

on contractual obligations for a Scandinavian tour. Growing further

rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja could learn the instrument. This time,

and further from what the Yardbirds had been just a year before—

Page agreed, and took up the bass for upcoming Yardbirds dates,

with more intensive adventures into its own blend of psychedelic

segueing to guitar once Dreja had come to grips with the four-string.

rock mixed with heavy electric blues and some acoustic folk—this

The Telecaster Page played for much of his tenure in the Yardbirds

line-up was clearly an entirely different band. The addition of bassist

was one given to him by Jeff Beck, the ’59 white-guard model with

John Paul Jones calcified the new direction. Page dropped the New

rosewood fingerboard that Beck had acquired from a pre-Yardbirds

Yardbirds name and dubbed the outfit Led Zeppelin.

bandmate. Page soon covered the guitar in reflective metal discs,

The heavily decorated rosewood-board Tele remained a major

perhaps an homage to the Esquire played by Syd Barrett of The

part of Page’s arsenal in Led Zeppelin. He employed it on the band’s

Pink Floyd, then repainted the guitar in psychedelic colors with a

first album, Led Zeppelin, but perhaps most famously pulled it out

large dragon graphic to match the mood of the times. He used this

for the seminal solo in “Stairway to Heaven” in 1971, a performance

Tele alongside Beck’s guitar work on the only real Yardbirds hit of

that no doubt sends countless thousands of wannabe guitar

the Page/Beck era, “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago,” as well as on

heroes mistakenly in search of the Gibson Les Pauls that Page was

the song “Stroll On,” recorded for the Yardbirds’ appearance on the

often seen playing on stage by that time, or the double-neck that

seminal Michelangelo Antonioni film Blowup.

he used to perform the song live, playing the intro on the upper

After Beck’s firing from the band midway through a U.S. tour in

12-string neck, and the solo on the lower six-string neck. During

October 1966, Page was the sole Yardbirds guitarist until the demise

the remainder of the Led Zeppelin years Page would acquire and

of the band, and more and more he used it as a test lab for musical

play a handful of other Telecasters, but the ’59 or ’60 Tele with the

ideas that he would explore further with his next venture. When two

dragon graphics would always be considered “the one” in the minds

more original Yardbirds, singer Keith Relf and drummer Jim McCarty,

of Zeppelin fanatics.

J I M M Y PA G E • 99

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 99 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 99

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 99

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Syd Barrett

Syd Barrett performs with The Pink Floyd at London’s UFO Club in 1967, wielding his Esquire. Andrew Whittuck/Redferns/Getty Images

100 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 100 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 100

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 100

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

W

ay back when Pink Floyd was The Pink Floyd, guitarist

acid-rock scene. For a basic, workmanlike instrument more at home

and singer Syd Barrett was the man at the helm of their

churning out low-string twang or lean country picking, the Esquire

spontaneous art-rock hijinks, and he pioneered British psychedelia

served Barrett’s experimental sonic explorations surprisingly well.

on the most unlikely of instruments: a Fender Esquire. Born Roger

In 1967 the band signed to EMI Records and released two hits—

Keith Barrett in Cambridge, England, in 1946, he got into the local

the only hit singles of their career—“Arnold Layne” and “See Emily

music and arts scene at an early age and adopted the nickname

Play,” along with a debut LP The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Much

“Syd” as a play on the name of drummer Sid Barrett. Barrett displayed

of this recorded work hints at Barrett’s on-stage Esquire antics,

considerable avant-garde leanings—long before there was such a

although the full dose really required The Floyd live experience. As

thing as “psychedelic rock”—and he was already making a name

an embodiment of this, perhaps, the disparity between the expecta-

for himself on the local bohemian scene while he was in his teens.

tions of the commercial music industry and Barrett’s creative muse

After he moved to London to study at Camberwell Art College,

gradually alienated him from the direction in which the band was

momentum toward Barrett’s creative zenith developed quickly. In

heading, while his purported excessive indulgence in psychedelic

1964, the fragmentation of a band formed by bassist Roger Waters

drugs was simultaneously making him more difficult to deal with on

(in which he occasionally played lead guitar), which also included

a personal level.

would-be Floyd drummer Nick Mason and rhythm guitarist (later

Barrett left The Pink Floyd (now just Pink Floyd) in 1968, with the

keyboardist) Rick Wright, offered Barrett an opening in a London-

intention of maintaining a solo career under the wing of the band’s

based outfit. The four evolved quickly from

management company, Blackhill Enterprises,

students to part-time musicians to happening

and EMI offshoot Harvest Records. The solo

artists on the scene, and by late 1965, they were

albums The Madcap Laughs, recorded in 1969

going by the name The Pink Floyd—a name

and released in January of 1970, and Barrett,

chosen by Barrett, derived from the first names

recorded soon after and released in November of

of American bluesmen Pink Anderson and Floyd

1970, both completed with help from his former

Council. Through the course of 1966, The Pink

Floyd bandmates, were considered creative and

Floyd developed their chops as a live band,

critical successes, but they were the last orig-

spurred on by Barrett’s drive to produce sponta-

inal work of Barrett’s career. As the ’70s rolled

neous, original performances with “songs” that generally extended

on, rumors abounded that Syd Barrett had either fried his mind on

into unstructured psychedelic improvisation. As such, they quickly

acid or was in fact dead, although he was often simply living in

became prominent fixtures on the underground music scene in the

near-seclusion in Cambridge. Other than the sporadic studio work

early days of “swinging London” and acted as a “resident band” of

of his first two years post-Floyd, Barrett remained virtually inac-

sorts at clubs such as UFO and the Roundhouse, performing long

tive musically from 1968 onward, discounting occasional, largely

sets that were as impressive for the lights and special effects—gen-

aborted studio efforts of the early ’70s. Barrett told Melody Maker

uine performance art, in other words—as they were for the music.

magazine’s Michael Watts in March of 1971, in regard to his fit-

Barrett’s Esquire was most likely a 1964 model, and had a white

ful musical efforts, “I feel, perhaps, I could be claimed as being

pickguard, rosewood fingerboard, and of course the single bridge

redundant almost. I don’t feel active, and that my public conscience

pickup characteristic of the breed. Shortly after the formation of

is fully satisfied.” Later that same year, Barrett told Mike Rock of

The Floyd, he repainted the guitar, then covered it in silver plastic

Rolling Stone magazine: “I never felt so close to a guitar as that

sheeting and stuck several reflective metal discs on the front. The

silver one with mirrors that I used on stage all the time. I swapped

epitome of the psychedelic stage prop, it was, for a time, the most

it for the black one [a late-’60s Telecaster Custom], but I’ve never

notable guitar among those of all the bands in London’s burgeoning

played it.” Syd Barrett died of pancreatic cancer in July of 2006.

S Y D B A R R E T T • 101

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 101 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 101

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 101

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 102 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 102

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 102

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

This 1969 Paisley Red Telecaster was part of Fender’s bid for the hippie crowd in the late sixties. The paisley red finish was only offered in 1968 and 1969. Fretted Americana

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 103 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 103

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 103

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

(continued from 93) Also in 1968, Fender made a blatant bid for favor

1972 Custom Telecaster in rare black finish. Doug Youland/Willie’s American Guitars

with the Haight-Ashbury scene with the release of the Paisley Red and Blue Flower Telecasters. Equipped with

his stint with Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band, and, later,

maple-capped necks to accent the bright decorative

rather inevitably, lick-slinger Brad Paisley. Bluegrass and

treatments, both were standard Telecasters other than the

country artist Marty Stuart is also an avid collector of

application of pinkish-red paisley or blue floral stick-on

original Paisley Telecasters. Having sold poorly in their

wallpaper front and back. The guitars’ body edges were

day, though, the Paisley and Flower Teles were dropped

finished to match the color of the appliqué, the entire thing

from the catalog after 1969, making original examples

was sprayed in a clear coat to protect the effort, and each was topped off with a clear Plexiglass pickguard.

quite collectible, despite their post-CBS pedigree. The Rosewood Telecaster, available in extremely

While your hippie of the day was perhaps still more likely to

limited numbers from 1969 to 1972, is another post-

choose a Stratocaster, these guitars did eventually appeal to a few

CBS oddball that has become something of a classic.

major stars of the country scene, including James Burton during

The design was first seen in two prototypes made in 1968 by Fender master builder Roger Rossmeisl, formerly of Rickenbacker, and Phillip Kubicki, later a respected custom guitar maker in his own right. The guitars had a solid rosewood neck and a rosewood “sandwich” body with maple center section. One of the original pair was given by Fender to George Harrison late that year, and used prominently on the recording of The Beatles’ Let It Be and other sessions, as well in the famous “rooftop concert” atop the Apple building in London in 1969, The Beatles’ last live performance. Production Rosewood Telecasters were initially made with solid bodies, but these were later chambered to relieve the extreme weight of this hard, dense wood. Otherwise, the Rosewood Telecasters had standard Tele specs and appointments, and three-ply black plastic pickguards. The extreme rarity of this model, along with George Harrison’s association with the guitar, makes it another highly collectible post-CBS Telecaster. The final changes to Telecaster models that might still be considered “vintage” came largely at the hands of a significant new

1968 Blue Flower Telecaster. Guitar and photo courtesy of Rumble Seat Music

Fender pickup. In 1967 Fender hired former Gibson engineer Seth Lover—famous as the main man behind the humbucking

104 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 104 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 104

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 104

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

pickup introduced by Gibson some ten years before—and by

That same year, the Telecaster Deluxe was intro-

1970, he had developed a humbucker for Fender, too. This

duced, with the same switching array as the revamped

pickup, known as the Fender Wide Range Humbucking

Custom, humbucking pickups in both neck and

Pickup, looks outwardly somewhat like a Gibson PAF-style

bridge positions, and an enlarged Stratocaster-style

pickup, but its six adjustable pole pieces are staggered with

headstock. The Custom and Deluxe also sported telltale

three on the treble side of one coil and three on the bass

signs of further Fender “innovations” that the standard

side of the other, with six more non-adjustable poles

Tele would otherwise escape. Each had the new “bul-

hidden beneath the cover. Also under the cover is quite

let” style headstock-positioned truss-rod adjustment

a different design from Lover’s Gibson humbucker, too:

nut, along with the three-screw “Tilt Neck” attachment

rather than the single Alnico bar magnet mounted beneath

with neck-angle adjustment bolt, two new features of all

and between the two coils as on Gibson’s “PAF,” the Wide

Stratocaster guitars from 1971.

Range pickup uses individual pole pieces made from cunife magnets, which are a blend of copper, nickel, and ferrite.

Promoted as beneficial new features at the time, the threebolt neck and bullet-head adjustment nut have, together,

Although these pickups definitely have characteristics

long been regarded as the most obvious outward demarca-

of humbuckers, the use of magnets within the coils, some-

tion point between “the good” early CBS Stratocasters and

thing seen in all significant Fender pickup designs, also

the, well, not so good ones. Their use on these Telecaster

helps them retain characteristic Fender clarity and “twang.”

models also rendered them less desirable among traditional

They were relatively “hot” pickups for their day, but still

Tele players for many years, although these solid, versatile,

enabled Fender guitars to sound like Fenders, while giving

early humbucker-loaded Fenders now retain a certain cache

players a version of the humbucking pickup that was such

with rock, blues, and roots players. The Telecaster Deluxe

a popular component by this time in the history of the

was also available for a time with a ’70s-style Stratocaster

electric guitar.

vibrato unit, making it the first Fender Tele to be produced

The first production model to be given

with a proprietary vibrato, rather than with a

the Wide Range Humbucking Pickup—

rendition of the Bigsby vibrato. Quirky, a

two,

revamped

little cumbersome looking, and certainly

Telecaster Thinline of 1971. In 1972,

rather dated in the mahogany-brown

the Telecaster Custom was reconfigured

finish that many such models wore, the

with one humbucker at the neck posi-

Deluxe and Custom models, along with

in

fact—was

the

tion and a new four-control layout and

the updated Thinline—alongside their

toggle-style pickup selector switch, á la

still-breathing predecessor, the standard

many Gibson guitars, while at the same time losing the body binding that had defined the model since 1959. Many

Telecaster of the early ’70s, of course— are all generally very functional and good-sounding guitars.

blues, rock, and jazz players had been modifying Teles for years by adding a Gibson humbucker at the neck position for a thicker, warmer tone, and the update of the Custom was clearly a bid to appeal to that market.

1976 Telecaster Deluxe. Outline Press Ltd.

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 105

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 105 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 105

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 105

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Keith Richards

Keith Richards performs with the Rolling Stones at Velodrome Stadium in Marseilles, France, in July 2003. Gerard Julien/AFP/Getty Images

106 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 106 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 106

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 106

16/7/20 5:01 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“There’s no reason for my guitar being called Micawber, apart from the fact that it’s such an unlikely name. There’s no one around me called Micawber, so when I scream for Micawber everyone knows what I’m talking about.”

—Keith Richards

M

uch like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, or George Harrison, Keith Richards has played a wide variety of different guitars over

which Richards has removed the block-style saddle from the low-E

the years—Gibson Les Pauls, ES-335s, ES-345s, and ES-355s,

position to better accommodate his preference for using only five

Fender Stratocasters, Ernie Ball/Music Man Silhouettes, a Dan

strings when playing in open-G tuning, as he always does with this

Armstrong Lucite guitar, and a Zemaitis—but he is far and away most

Tele. Other notable details include its modern, diecast tuners and

associated with the modified early ’50s black-guard Telelecaster

the white Strat-style switch tip in place of the original black barrel

that has remained his signature instrument since 1972’s Exile on

switch tip. Known for its cutting yet meaty tone, Micawber can be

Main St. Indeed, Richards can be viewed as one of the players who

heard on too many classic Stones recordings to mention. Richards

took the Tele from country and blues into mainstream rock (where

also habitually uses it in live performances of “Brown Sugar” and

it had rarely been used since the ’50s), and it has remained a major

“Honky Tonk Woman.”

player there ever since.

On tour, Richards carts several backup Telecasters that are also

Named “Micawber” by Richards, after a character from Charles

usually used on specific songs. Most distinctive among these are

Dickens’s novel David Copperfield, this Telecaster is understood to

“Malcolm,” a blonde 1954 Telecaster, and “Sonny,” a sunburst 1966

be a 1952 or ’53 model that retains its original body and neck (with

Telecaster. Both also have humbuckers added in the neck posi-

their original, heavily road-worn finishes), and knurled knobs and

tion and six-saddle brass bridges with the low-E saddle removed.

control plate, but has been modified in many other ways. Most nota-

Although countless guitarists happily maintain six strings when

ble among these alterations is the Gibson PAF humbucking pickup

playing in open G (which, as such, runs D-G-D-G-B-D, low to high),

that Richards installed in the neck position (backward, with the

Richards has often mentioned that the low D just isn’t necessary

adjustable pole pieces toward the bridge) early in his ownership of

to him, and it gets in the way of his own playing and the bassist’s

the guitar. The neck pickup is often considered the “weak link” of

parts, too. To complete his rich, gnarly, rock-and-roll tone, Richards

the Telecaster, tonally speaking, and a humbucker modification is

rams his guitars through a pair of vintage late-’50s “high- powered”

one of the more popular options for improving this setting. Micawber

(80 watt) tweed Fender Twin amplifiers on stage, while frequently

was also updated with a latter-day, six-saddle brass bridge, from

blending large and small amps in the studio.

K E I T H R I C H A R D S • 107

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 107 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 107

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 107

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Wilko Johnson Johnson performs with Dr. Feelgood at Hammersmith Palais, 1975. Ian Dickson/ Redferns/Getty Images

W

ith his shaggy bowl haircut, black clothes, herky-jerky

and flat, swampy land. Inverting his name to create his better-

stage presence, and frenetic playing style, Wilko Johnson

known stage moniker, Wilko Johnson launched his music career

was considered by many to be the heart and soul of Dr. Feelgood, the

shortly after graduating from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne

band he cofounded in 1971. His black Telecaster with red pickguard

with an English degree. Settling back home in Essex, he met up

was as much a part of his image as anything, and an even bigger

with two old acquaintances: singer Lee Collins (soon Lee Brilleaux)

force upon the music, given its punchy tone and the energy it

and bassist John Sparkes, whose group the Pigboy Charlie Band

injected into this seminal London pop-rock outfit.

had just lost its guitarist. Johnson hopped aboard, and local working

The guitarist was born John Wilkinson in 1947 in Canvey

drummer John “The Big Figure” Martin was roped in to fill out the

Island, a seven-square-mile island just off the southern corner

quartet, which opted to mark the personnel change with a name

of Essex, England, that is known mainly for its large oil depot

change. The new name—Dr. Feelgood—seems to have originated

108 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 108 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 108

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 108

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Wilko Johnson’s famous “red-guard” Tele takes a break. Andrew Lepley/Redferns/ Getty Images

INTERVIEWER: “I know you’re a fan of the Telecaster guitar. Have you used any other makes of guitar?” WILKO JOHNSON: “No.” INTERVIEWER: “Why have you stuck with Telecasters?” WILKO JOHNSON: “Because Mick Green [of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates] had one.” INTERVIEWER: “I understand you never use a plectrum—that must be hard on your fingers?” WILKO JOHNSON: “They used to bleed a lot, but they are all right now.” from a song by bluesman Piano Red, which was covered by English rock ’n’ rollers Johnny Kid and the Pirates, although it is also the name given to any doctor on the rock scene who was willing to dole out “feel good” meds. From the start, the members of Dr. Feelgood considered it an

signed its first record deal, he bought a second Telecaster. Originally

R&B band, but the tag might be misleading to R&B purists. Blending

a sunburst model from 1962 with rosewood fingerboard and white

blues, rock ’n’ roll, R&B, and something distinctly London into their

pickguard, the new guitar was painted black, and a red pickguard

own original sound—buoyed by an electric stage presence in live

was added once Dr. Feelgood got rolling so it would match his

shows—Dr. Feelgood became the central fixture of what would be

favorite black-and-red shirt. The choice of a Telecaster had been

known as the London pub-rock scene of the 1970s. Including bands

inspired by its use by guitarist Mick Green with Johnny Kidd and the

like Ducks Deluxe, Brinsley Schwarz, Chilli Willi and the Red Hot

Pirates. As Johnson told Richard Flynn of Guitar & Bass magazine

Peppers, and Nick Lowe, and later the likes

in the U.K. in September of 2011, Green also

of Ian Dury, Joe Strummer’s 101ers, The

had an enormous effect on Johnson’s play-

Stranglers, and Elvis Costello, pub-rock stood

ing style. “I can remember discovering him

out as a back-to-basics reaction of sorts to

and being intrigued by the way he played,”

the phoniness and glitz of the booming glam-

said Johnson. “The thing that hit me was his

rock scene. Pub-rock is also credited as the

style. It was so American. It was a rhythm

breeding ground for the riotous punk-rock

and blues style, and it didn’t sound like what most people were doing over here. One of the many things

scene that followed. Johnson bought his first Telecaster from a shop in Southend,

that intrigued me was when I found out the Pirates didn’t have a

Essex, in 1965 for £90 (around $150). In 1974, after Dr. Feelgood

rhythm guitarist. It was all one guy, and I thought that was great and

W I L K O J O H N S O N • 109

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 109 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 109

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 109

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Wilko Johnson

Wilko Johnson plays his trademark black Telecaster with red pickguard during a 2009 show. Jon Gardner/Alamy

I started learning how to do it. . . . But I worked out a way of doing

Jetty, Malpractice, and Sneakin’ Suspicion—and a 1976 live album,

it, which of course was wrong—it’s not the way he did it. So if you

Stupidity, that reached number one on the U.K. album chart, Wilko

like, I’ve ended up with my own style.” A big part of that “own style”

Johnson left Dr. Feelgood. Johnson continues to record and tour

also revolves around the fact that Johnson is a natural left-hander

with his own band, figured largely in the award-winning pub-rock

but plays guitar right-handed, while also using his bare fingers and

documentary Oil City Confidential (2009), and played the part of the

thumb rather than a pick.

mute executioner in the HBO TV series Game of Thrones. He still

Dr. Feelgood was on tour in the United States in 1976 when

owns his original black Telecaster but has retired it from the road.

punk hit it big in the U.K. Upon their return, they found a drastically

A Wilko Johnson Signature Telecaster was developed by Fender in

altered scene, one in which they were a little less welcome than

2013. Dr. Feelgood pressed on in the late ’70s with replacement

they had been in the years before. This, and increasing animos-

guitarist John “Gypie” Mayo, who has been replaced by three suc-

ity between Johnson and signer Lee Brilleaux, led to Wilko’s

cessive guitarists in the intervening years. Brilleaux died of cancer

disenchantment with the band. In 1977, after several modest

in 1994. The band is still performing today, although none of the

hit singles, three successful studio albums—Down by the

founding members remain.

110 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 110 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 110

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 110

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

In 1964, like many British teenagers I was learning to play the electric guitar—my hero was the great Mick Green of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, who chopped out his fantastic riffs on a Fender Telecaster. There was a blonde Telecaster in the display window of the local music shop—it was beautiful as a dream and just as unattainable. The price tag of £107 was way beyond the means of a Canvey Island schoolboy and all I could do was gaze at it through the glass. Came the day when the shop put on a sale and dropped the price to £90. I had to have it. My mum would never allow me to buy anything on credit, so I went into the shop, put down a small deposit, and asked if I could pay by weekly installments while they retained the guitar. Every Saturday I would go to the shop with my payment book and hand over all the money I had scraped together that week, and they would bring out the guitar and let me spend the afternoon playing it. At closing time the Tele went back into the storeroom and I walked home. Eventually I made the final payment and triumphantly carried my Fender Telecaster out of

the shop. Walking through the crowded streets I felt like a king. 1975. Working hard with Dr. Feelgood I wanted another guitar to use on the road. I found a 1962 Tele in the small ads in Melody Maker (£180!). This was a sunburst model—I customized it with a black spray job and a red scratch plate and I’ve used it for almost every gig and recording session I ever played since. I still have both these guitars—fifty years old now and playing as good or better than ever. I also have the chrome “ashtray” tailpiece covers, both in shining never-used mint condition. There must be thousands of these things stashed away in the backs of cupboards and drawers, the Telecaster’s one concession to 1950s Detroit-style streamlining and the most unused piece of hardware in history. I’m still on the road and so is my Tele. Every hotel room I check into, the first thing I do is take the Telecaster out of its case and lean it against the wall. It looks so good—just like in that shop window all those years ago. —Wilko Johnson, 2012

W I L K O J O H N S O N • 111

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 111 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 111

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 111

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Bill Kirchen

Commander Cody in 1967 with fellow Airmen George Frayne, Andy Stein, John Tichy, Billy C. Farlow, Lance Dickerson, Bobby Black, and Paul “Buffalo” Bruce Barlow. After acquiring his first guitar, a Gibson SG, from fellow Cody guitarist

“T

itan of the Telecaster,” Dieselbilly originator, lead guitarist

Tichy, Kirchen pretty quickly realized that what he really needed

with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen—Bill

was a Telecaster. Less than a year later, in 1968, he practically

Kirchen has worn plenty of labels, but beneath all of them he has

stumbled into one: a chance meeting with a Tele-toting stranger on

stayed true to his slab-bodied paramour, the Fender Telecaster.

a bus resulted in an even swap, the fruits of which is a somewhat

Kirchen was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1948 and raised on a

enigmatic instrument that has been with him ever since. “That’s

diet of folk and classical music, which he played before discovering

the same Tele that I’ve played just about every day since,” Kirchen

the rock ’n’ roll, country, blues, and rockabilly that he would

relates, “whatever the hell year it is . . . sunburst, you know. When

eventually twist into something all his own. Having been hipped

I got it the serial number on the bridge plate was 2222, but it had

to rock ’n’ roll in the early ’60s by the first Beatles records,

a seven-screw pickguard and no neck date. No one could figure

Kirchen migrated toward country twang through the course

out, because it didn’t have a big fat [early] ’50s neck, it had a thin-

of the decade and formed psychedelic country-rock-bluesers

ner neck, so we thought it might have been a factory refinish, who

112 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 112 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 112

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 112

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“I watched James Burton, Roy Nichols, and Don Rich, loved their sound, and realized those guys all played a Telecaster, so I thought, ‘Right then—I’ll be needing one.’ I traded a gentleman an SG for mine, and it turned out to be the guitar I ended up playing for the next forty-five years.”

—Bill Kirchen, to MusicRadar

knows. But then, mind that in ’68 there was no real value in counter-

widely, returning to his DC base before relocating first back to the

feiting; however you cut it, it was a hundred-dollar guitar.”

West Coast, then to Austin, Texas.

Hundred-dollar guitar in tow, Kirchen and Commander Cody

More than four decades after virtually stumbling upon it, Kirchen

headed west to San Francisco in 1969 just in time to join the likes

still has his own original hammer, although he leaves it at home these

of the Byrds, Gram Parsons, the Grateful Dead, and others in a

days, touring instead with Tele clones made by the likes of Big Tex

ripe country-rock scene. They signed with Paramount Records in

and Rick Kelly. But, while the enigmatic ’50s Telecaster that came to

1971, released the debut album Lost in the Ozone, and shot the

him in 1968 is laughably far from its original state, it remains “the

single “Hotrod Lincoln” into the Billboard Top 10 in 1972, propelling

one” in Kirchen’s heart. “It’s so far from original . . . the only metal

Kirchen’s hotrod Tele licks into the national consciousness along

left on there that’s original are the six ferrules that the strings go

with it. After signing to Warner Brothers in 1975, Cody et al. found

through. Everything else on there I’ve changed one, two, three, four,

themselves butting heads with the new label’s efforts to turn them

five, times, just because it’s a player. It was immaculate when I got

into the next Eagles. After sticking true to its harder-edged roots

it, just a few little scrub marks where somebody had grabbed ahold

for a time, the Lost Planet Airmen disbanded in 1976, with singer

of an E chord, you know. Now where my little finger rests between

George Frayne retaining his Commander Cody stage persona as a

the bridge plate and the volume-tone strip I’ve worn it down so far

solo artist from 1977 onward.

there’s a hole about a half-inch deep just from my little finger resting

Post-Cody, Kirchen toured and recorded with Nick Lowe

there.” And as precious as this instrument has been to him—truly

for a time (along with his other San Francisco–area band, the

the tool of a Telecaster original—its owner still can’t tell us when the

Moonlighters), then based himself in Washington, DC, for many

thing was born. “I never really knew, and the other thing was that I

years, where he fit in well with fellow hot Tele-meisters like Roy

figured I wasn’t going to sell it. I figured when I got done with it I was

Buchanan, Tom Principato, and Danny Gatton. With his band Too

going to pound it into my front yard and stick those trapezoid house

Much Fun, Kirchen released several acclaimed albums and toured

numbers on it, you know; by now it’s a moot point, I think.”

B I L L K I R C H E N • 113

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 113 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 113

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 113

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Mike Campbell

Campbell performs with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in London, early on in his ownership of his famed Broadcaster. Estate of Keith Morris/ Redferns/Getty Images

M

ike Campbell was first introduced to fellow Floridian Tom Petty in Gainesville in the early 1970s when mutual friend Randall

Marsh, drummer for Petty’s band Mudcrutch, recommended him to fill a vacancy on lead guitar. In 1974 Mudcrutch moved from Florida to Los Angeles, signed a deal with Shelter Records, and recorded an album that was never released. In 1976, however, out of the wreckage of the Mudcrutch implosion, Campbell and Petty formed the band that would forever after be known primarily for its lead singer’s name. Along with old Gainesville pal Benmont Tench on Hammond organ, plus Ron Blair on bass and Stan Lynch on drums, the pair regrouped as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and soon started rolling out the hits. The self-titled debut album on ABC Records yielded only a minor hit in “Breakdown,” which reached the Top 40, while “American Girl,” now considered a Heartbreakers classic, failed to make a dent in the charts. The follow-up album, You’re Gonna Get It, did at least go gold, while the band’s

114 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 114 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 114

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 114

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The guitar closest to Campbell’s heart is this 1950 or early ’51 Broadcaster. He found it at Nadine’s Music in Hollywood for $600 shortly after moving west with Mudcrutch. Rick Gould

third outing, 1979’s Damn the Torpedoes, finally shot

than all your other guitars!’ So I thought, why leave it at home? This

them into the big time. After that, Tom Petty and the

is my sound, you know?” Inspired once again by the instrument’s

Heartbreakers logged numerous hits, including nineteen Top

power, Campbell took the Broadcaster out on the 1999 summer tour

10s. The band received myriad awards, a star on the Hollywood

following the release of the album Echo (having used it to record

Walk of Fame, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

the album track “I Don’t Wanna Fight,” and others). In the years

A major fan and collector of guitars, Mike Campbell is known for

following, however, the vintage Fender was largely consigned to

the range of different models he plays on stage and in the studio,

studio duties once again. In addition to the Broadcaster, Campbell

including Rickenbackers, Gretsches, Gibsons, and German-made

also has a 1956 Telecaster with Parsons-White B-Bender, which can

Duesenbergs. But from the very start of the band, Campbell’s sig-

be heard on the occasional Heartbreakers track and in “Lover of the

nature guitar, and the one that is closest to his heart, was an early

Bayou,” a 2008 track from Mudcrutch.

Fender Broadcaster. Shortly after moving west with Mudcrutch,

Throughout his work with Petty and others, Campbell has been

Campbell found the 1950 or early ’51 Broadcaster at Nadine’s

known for being a consummate “song player,” a guitarist driven

Music in Hollywood for $600. In the early days of Tom Petty and the

to play to the benefit of the composition rather than for the sake

Heartbreakers, the Broadcaster was the guitar for Campbell. Used

of logging flashy riffs and solos. “The stuff that got me into gui-

on the recording of the band’s debut single “Breakdown,” as well

tar,” Campbell explains, “the Stones, the Kinks, the Beach Boys,

as notable tracks like “American Girl,” “Hurt,” “I Need to Know,”

the Animals, all those ’60s bands, had real simple guitar parts to

and—in Petty’s hands—“Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” its beefy,

go around the song as opposed to guitar solos that interrupted the

slightly gritty snarl is as definitively Heartbreakers as the twelve-

song. That’s the way our band’s always been: the song’s the most

string Rickenbacker jangle that often counterpoints it.

important thing.”

As such, not to mention its status as one of relatively few exist-

In addition to his work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,

ing Broadcasters, this old black-guard became extremely precious

Campbell collaborated with several other notable artists, as guitar-

to its owner. “I put it off the road many years ago because it became

ist, producer, and songwriter. He cowrote Don Henley’s massive hit

so valuable,” Campbell told the author in 1999. “Then in rehearsal

“Boys of Summer,” produced four tracks on Roy Orbison’s Mystery

I brought it down one day and the soundman came running down

Girl album, and produced two of Petty’s non-Heartbreakers albums,

saying, ‘What was that!? You gotta take that out—it sounds better

Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers.

M I K E C A M P B E L L • 115

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 115 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 115

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 115

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen and his original Esquire with added neck pickup. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

116 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 116 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 116

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 116

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“The Esquire was purchased for $185. It was my official just-signed-a-record-deal-you-get-a-guitar.”

—Bruce Springsteen

B

ruce Springsteen’s use of a Telecaster (or to be precise, an Esquire) is typical of this instrument’s utility as a blue-collar

rock ’n’ roll guitar. It has also made his own Esquire one of the most recognizable guitars in all of rock music, thanks largely to its appearance on the covers of the Born to Run, Live 1975–85, Human

Touch, and Greatest Hits albums. Springsteen’s Fender Esquire has often been cited by techs and the Boss himself as a 1953 or ’54 model, and most fans have been happy to leave it at that. Closer examination of this hallowed instrument, however, shows that there might be a little more going on under the hood. In live concert footage from the mid-’70s, Springsteen states that he purchased the guitar in the early ’70s from New Jersey– based luthier Phil Petillo, who also cared for the instrument in the early days of Springsteen’s ownership. Other reports indicate that Petillo purchased the Esquire at a liquidation sale for a New York recording studio, and that the guitar was already somewhat modified when he acquired it, most notably having had a considerable amount of wood routed from beneath the pickguard to accommodate extra pickups in addition to the factory route for a future neck pickup that all Esquires carry beneath their pickguards. (The star’s Esquire outwardly has the look of a Telecaster anyway, thanks to the

B R U C E S P R I N G S T E E N • 117

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 117 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 117

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 117

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Bruce Springsteen

added pickup in the neck position.) The instrument’s heavily worn

side of this guide. Myriad interviews also indicate that the neck has

Butterscotch Blonde finish and black pickguard uphold the ’53 or

the soft-V profile that came back into fashion at Fender in late ’55

’54 estimate, but the headstock wears a butterfly string guide for

and remained largely through ’57 (early ’50 and ’51 necks were also

the B and E strings positioned roughly in line with the A-string

V’s, or “boat necks,” but were thicker overall). All of these indicators

tuner post; the butterfly guide didn’t replace the earlier round

point to a neck made after 1954, and the possibility that the entire

guide (which was more distant from the nut) until mid-’56, a

instrument is actually a 1956 or 1957 white-guard Esquire with a

change accompanied by a move of the logo decal to the far

swapped-in black guard.

118 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 118 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 118

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 118

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Other later modifications are beyond speculation. The Esquire

Ultimately, the fine points matter not. These were “Erector Set”

already has replacement tuners in the Born to Run photo, although it

guitars to begin with, and whatever kind of mutt of an instrument

still wears a three-saddle ’50s bridge with stamped-steel base plate.

it is, it has been the driving force behind some of the most com-

Later, it received a titanium six-saddle bridge from Petillo, along with a

pelling rock anthems from the mid-1970s on. One listen to the

set of the luthier’s own patented Petillo Precision Frets, a fret wire with

searing solos from “Prove It All Night” or “Candy’s Room” render

an inverted V-shaped crown for precise intonation. Petillo also added

the details moot.

hot rewound single-coil pickups, which the guitar retains to this day.

B R U C E S P R I N G S T E E N • 119

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 119 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 119

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 119

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Joe Strummer

Joe Strummer and his well-used Telecaster front the Mescaleros in July 2002, a few months before his passing. Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

T

he archetypal blue-collar guitar for hard-working country and

Strummer (born John Mellor) acquired this early-CBS

blues players of the 1950s and ’60s, the Telecaster transitioned

Telecaster—with its transition “spaghetti” logo, rosewood fin-

well to the punk-rock ethos of the ’70s. Less “posh” than a Les Paul,

gerboard, three-ply white/black/white pickguard, and three-tone

more straightforward than a Stratocaster, the Tele was a guitar

sunburst finish—in 1975 while playing with a London pub-rock

adept at hammering out chunky power-chord rhythms or

band called the 101ers. He bought it used for £120, which is

simple yet searing single-note solos, and it appealed to

around $200, and a lot of money back in the day, and leg-

the burgeoning punk scene in a way that was almost

end has it that he “earned” the sum by agreeing to marry

primal. As such, the Telecaster was a natural choice for

a woman from South Africa so she could stay in the United

Joe Strummer, guitarist and singer with the Clash. As much as he might have tried to maintain the band’s stance, however,

Kingdom. In 1976, just as the punk movement was exploding in London, guitarist Mick Jones and bassist Paul Simonon

and that of the entire genre, really, against the worship of material

persuaded Strummer to join their new band, the Clash, and the ’66

goods, it was clear that Strummer loved his 1966 Telecaster just

Telecaster came with him. This was punk, though, and a serious

a little bit. No, he never coddled the guitar—as evidenced by his

statement had to be made. At the urging of the band’s manager,

slipshod modifications and rough treatment of the instrument—

Strummer and company took a selection of gear to a friend’s body

but he certainly respected it, and he turned to this Tele far more

shop, where the guitar’s sunburst finish—a custom color option,

than any other guitar through the course of his entire career.

now highly prized among collectors—was shot with a coat of gray

120 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 120 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 120

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 120

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Joe Strummer Telecaster with stickers, stencils, and other case candy. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

primer and, finally, a thick coat of jet black paint. Strummer stenciled on the word “NOISE” in white and added the first of an evolving number of stickers to the front, this one reading “Ignore Alien Orders.” With these overt statements of disrespect duly made, a punk legend was born. Although he owned backup guitars, Strummer used the ’66

so hard that much of the black overspray was worn down to the

Tele on the vast majority of his work with the Clash, and on much of

gray undercoat, and even to glimpses of the origi-

his solo work in the years that followed. The instrument is equally

nal sunburst finish in places. Strummer took the faithful ’66 Tele

responsible for the crunching, metallic strum that propelled so

with him on the road again in late 2001 and 2002 before dying of

many of the band’s ferocious early punk outings, including “White

a congenital heart defect in December of that year at the age of

Riot” and “London’s Burning,” as well as the clever, playful rhythm

fifty. The guitar is believed to be in the possession of Strummer’s

work that underpinned Mick Jones’s lithe lead playing on later,

family in England. In 2007, Fender released their Joe Strummer

more nuanced songs such as “Rudie Can’t Fail,” “Spanish Bombs,”

Telecaster, complete with worn gray/black finish and a selection of

and “Lost in the Supermarket.” Strummer played the Telecaster

decals and stencils.

J O E S T R U M M E R • 121

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 121 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 121

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 121

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Safe to say some of the world’s most unique custom Esquires reside in the collection of ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons. The chartreuse Crop Duster Special was a gift from the Top’s bassist, Dusty Hill, who played the EMG-equipped guitar on “Breakaway” from the band’s 1994 album, Antenna. David Perry (davidperrystudio.com)

This piece from the Gibbons collection is a nod to the guitarist’s love of country music and Tele pioneer Buck Owens. The guitar is one of a pair made for ZZ Top pals Dwight Yoakam and Pete Anderson. David Perry (davidperrystudio.com)

Gibbons’s Snake and Bones Esquire is one of the most-valued guitars in his collection. The stacked humbucker and intricate fingerboard inlay are complemented by the work of famed Los Angeles silversmith Gabor. David Perry (davidperrystudio.com)

Right: Custom Shop LTD 50s Esquire. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation 122 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 122 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 122

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 122

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 123 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 123

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 123

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Andy Summers Andy Summers plays his Telecaster Custom with the Police at the Brøndbyhallen in Copenhagen, Denmark, in January 1982. Jan Persson/Redferns/Getty Images

G

iven his background in jazz, fusion, classical music, and

more than just the rudimentary power-chord romps that punk had

psychedelia, Andy Summers might have seemed an odd

embodied so far, something that might just give Summers’s eclectic,

choice as the third man in a British “punk” trio that was forming

ethereal playing style room to breathe. Summers’s hunch proved

in 1977. He had already played with Eric Burdon and the New

right, and the Police’s blend of punk energy, psychedelic sonic

Animals, Soft Machine, and Zoot Money and the Big Roll Band,

explorations, and reggae-fusion rhythms proved not only the perfect

plus Kevin Coyne, Kevin Ayers, and Tim Rose; toured the USA with

foil for his own diverse explorations, but it also proved extremely

major acts; and found time to earn a BA in music from California

popular to the world at large, taking the guitarist to the top of his field

State University, Northridge, in the early ’70s. But there was

in the process.

something about this outfit—bassist/vocalist Stewart “Sting”

Through it all, Summers played a beaten concoction of a vintage

Sumner and drummer Stewart Copeland—that promised

Telecaster that, seemingly against all odds, turned out to be the

124 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 124 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 124

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 124

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Custom Shop Andy Summer Tribute Telecaster Custom. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

perfect guitar for this broad tonal palette. Summers bought the sunburst 1961 Telecaster Custom with maple neck from one of his guitar students for $200 in the early ’70s while teaching to subsidize his studies. “There is a certain magic in life,” he told Guitar Player magazine’s Michael Molenda in 2007. “It was destiny that brought that guitar to me. It was a great guitar to play, and it had a wide range of tonal colors—from a typical clean Tele sound to a thick and

the biggest alteration of all, the maple neck was clearly not original

creamy humbucker tone . . . and it sparked something that really

to the guitar, which would have been born with a “slab board”

came together when I joined a band with these two other guys. That

rosewood neck in ’61. Bearing the “Telecaster” model name rather

Tele was the main guitar for almost everything the Police did.”

than the “Telecaster Custom” that the bound, sunburst body of this

The guitar already had extensive modifications, including the

guitar designates, the neck was clearly taken from a ’50s Tele and

addition of a Gibson PAF humbucker in the neck position (later

updated with Schaller tuners and an extra string guide for the G and

replaced by a Seymour Duncan after it failed on tour), a phase-

D strings. In addition to the Telecaster, Summers’s Police tones were

reverse switch on the control plate, another switch above the

supplemented by a wide range of effects units, which expanded

control plate and a volume control below it that governed a preamp/

from the famous Boss Chorus Ensemble-infused riff of “Message in

overdrive unit mounted in the back of the guitar, and a brass

a Bottle” to include a Maestro Echoplex, a Mutron III envelope filter,

replacement bridge with six individual brass saddles. The original

and several fuzz, overdrive, and phaser units—all controlled via a

single-coil bridge pickup was mounted into the ash body of the

Pete Cornish pedalboard in the original era of the Police, as well as

guitar, rather than suspended from the bridge plate, and in perhaps

a Bradshaw floor unit in later years.

A N D Y S U M M E R S • 125

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 125 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 125

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 125

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Danny Gatton Danny Gatton plays “slide” with a Heineken bottle while backing Robert Gordon at the Berkeley Square in Berkeley, California, on May 10, 1981. Clayton Call/Redferns/Getty Images

126 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 126 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 126

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 126

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

J

ust try making a list of “great Tele players” without including Danny Gatton. It’s sometimes surprising to find that a player

of Gatton’s magnitude was so devoted to a guitar as “primitive” as the Telecaster, but there’s something magical about a good Telecaster that seems to draw in virtuoso pickers. If one looks past the plank styling, it’s clear that the Tele’s blend of chime and bite, its ringing sustain, and its solid, bend-friendly construction are all major plusses for the players who pick it. Born in Washington, DC, in 1945, Danny Gatton initially learned the guitar from his father, Daniel Sr., who had played professionally before stepping into the mainstream to raise a family. Gatton joined his first professional band, The Offbeats, in 1959 at the age of fourteen, where he made a longtime association with organist Dick Heintze. He followed countless hot young pickers to Nashville in the ’60s, but ultimately returned to his native DC in the early ’70s. The guitarist’s reputation grew exponentially within the music community from the mid-’70s onward,

Danny Gatton Signature Telecaster in Frost Gold. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

D A N N Y G AT T O N • 127

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 127 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 127

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 127

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Danny Gatton Danny Gatton’s original ’53 Telecaster, here fitted with the later Joe Barden pickups. Gatton played this Tele through most of the 1980s and 1990s; his Signature model was based on the guitar. Steve Gorospe

128 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 128 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 128

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 128

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

although he never really earned the broader fame and commercial

from the afternoon happy hour. I’m watching this short, stumpy little

success that such talent surely deserves. Often pigeonholed as a

redneck, and he’s covering everything . . . they were playing the

“country” or “rockabilly” player, due perhaps to the combination

most bizarre mix of shit, from straight-up ‘Mystery Train’ rockabilly

of his beat-up Telecaster and slicked-back “DA” hairstyle, Gatton

to ancient chestnuts like ‘Matilda’ to slow blues. But none of this is

could in fact turn his hand to any musical style, and incorporated

‘normal’ music at all. It’s not rock and roll; it’s not jazz. I thought I’d

elements of bebop, blues, Django-esque hot jazz, and others into his

walked into a time warp or an alternative universe.” Such was the

own playing. Asked “What kind of musical styles are you influenced

power of Gatton’s talent, which had reached far too few fans by the

by?” on camera in the 1980s by an anonymous—and rather curt—

time he took his own life in 1995 at the age of forty-nine.

interviewer, Gatton replied, “Just about everything that happened in

As much as Danny Gatton loved his Telecaster, he was often

the ’30s, ’40s, ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.” The interviewer clearly

chasing a fuller, fatter tone than the model was born with, but he

took it as the response of a precocious artist, but it was as honest

sought to attain it by modifying the instrument rather than by sur-

an answer as could have been replied.

rendering it entirely. For a time, he installed a large, cumbersome

The music that Gatton made on his 1953 Tele was nothing short

Gibson “Charlie Christian” pickup in the neck position of his Tele to

of phenomenal. Joe Barden, who worked as a self-appointed roadie

bring that notoriously underpowered setting up to par. A more man-

while still in his teens and became Gatton’s personal pickup maker

ageable solution eventually came in the form of the standard-sized,

toward the end of the guitarist’s life, related the first time he experi-

dual-blade pickups that Barden designed for him, which he took

enced Gatton’s stellar abilities: “It was one of the foremost moments

to using in both the bridge and neck positions from the early ’80s

in my life—I was completely transfixed. This was at a club called

onward. Gatton is believed to have sold his prized ’53 Telecaster to a

The Keg, in Georgetown, DC, on a snowy Sunday night. I was one of

collector in 1990, after which he often played prototypes of Fender’s

two paying customers, and there was a drunk passed out, leftover

Danny Gatton Signature Telecaster.

D A N N Y G AT T O N • 129

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 129 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 129

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 129

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Albert Collins displays his early white-guard Telecaster in a 1950s publicity photo. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 130 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 130

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 130

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

TELECASTER TONE AND CONSTRUCTION

THE TONE OF ANY GUITAR is fundamentally shaped by its design, the wood used to construct it, and

the hardware and electronic components mounted to it. For the Telecaster—as far as many Tele fans are concerned, at least—the template seems to be more set in stone than it is for most other electric guitars. Jazz players might do their thing on a Gibson ES-175 or Super 400, an Epiphone Emperor, or a D’Angelico New Yorker with equal aplomb; rockers might wail with comparable ferocity on an Ibanez Jem, a PRS Custom 22, or a Gibson Les Paul or SG. But a Tele player is always a Tele player, and only a Tele will fit the bill. Artists who become real Tele players (and not just guitarists who happen to play a Tele now and then) tend to become passionate about the instrument, and there are several reasons we can provide to explain why. Then again, there is perhaps some magic in there that we cannot, unless we simply phrase it as guitarist Jim Campilongo does—“I think the sound of the Telecaster penetrates some aspect of humanity. It sounds like some electric Maria Callas”—and leave it at that.

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 131 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 131

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 131

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

132 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 132 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 132

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 132

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The Telecaster’s unique sonic signature is formed by the

only slightly), and its unusual bridge design, which incorporates

combination of several crucial ingredients, many of which are

a bridge base plate that doubles as pickup mounting plate on

indispensable to the recipe. You can change one or two of the

which three brass or steel saddles rest. In addition to these, one

lesser of these, perhaps, and a Tele still sounds like a Tele—or will

intangible ingredient—its 25½-inch scale length—also makes an

be in the ballpark, at least. Certain parts of the formula, however,

impact on the guitar’s final voice. Drastically alter any one of the

are crucial, unless you merely want “an electric guitar” that is

above, and a Telecaster no longer sounds quite like a Telecaster,

shaped like a Tele. As such, the Telecaster really is a prime exam-

or the platonic form thereof, at least.

ple of a design’s whole being greater than the sum of its parts. As I discussed in some detail in History of the Telecaster,

THE TELECASTER MYSTIQUE

the Telecaster truly represented a redrawing of the blueprint

Whereas incarnations of the electric guitar manufactured

of the electric guitar. Looks-wise, it boiled down the lines of

prior to 1950 were really born out of a popular music rooted

the traditional guitar to something that was extremely sim-

in big-band jazz, the Telecaster was built to chase a different

ple, while elegantly modernistic. More important, though,

sonic ideal. As guitarist Bill Kirchen puts it, “Leo Fender was

was the way in which it re-evaluated the function of the

plying the waters of that fantastic country music scene on the

instrument, to produce an entirely new concept of “the

West Coast in the late ’40s and early ’50s, and you know . . .

guitar” that was aimed wholeheartedly at the goal of ampli-

it’s kind of reverse engineering. Old country music sounds like

fication. In chasing this objective, Fender would retain the

a Telecaster, so it’s hard to say ‘why does a Telecaster sound like

fretted neck and the six strings traditionally tuned E-A-D-

that?’ Rather than being in a big horn environment where it

G-B-E, and little else. Fortunately, Leo and his cohorts did

was supposed to sound like a saxophone, it was supposed to

have a functional tonal template to work from, and one

more sound like a banjo or a guitar. So to me, it stayed more

that he himself had put considerable effort into develop-

true to that particular sonic territory of the guitar.”

ing and advancing. The electric lap steel, or “Hawaiian,”

The versatility of this electric guitar does come through,

guitar was already the most successful electric stringed

though, in the very different voice available from its neck

instrument, in sonic terms, available to the guitarist. It

pickup (and yet another voice heard in the in-between set-

was bright, clear, well-defined, and resisted feedback

ting with both pickups on, when the guitar is

at high volumes, none of which could be claimed

wired for this). The neck pickup, somewhat

in their entirety by the acoustic archtop electric

different in sound and construction from the

guitars of the mid-1930s to late ’40s. Since these

bridge pickup, comes closer to duplicating the

qualities were already working for the steel guitar,

sound of an acoustic guitar than does the bridge

Leo reasoned that they would also be successful

pickup, which really sounds very little like an

with Spanish-style guitarists. This is the logic that

acoustic instrument. “The Telecaster has a purity

led him down the road toward the Telecaster.

of sound,” says Jim Campilongo. “And, for me,

The key ingredients held over from Fender’s

if you looked up the definition of ‘electric gui-

steel-guitar designs were the solid body and the

tar,’ the neck position would be that. It just

bright, clear pickup. Beyond these, two other

sounds like an acoustic guitar that’s amplified.

primary design elements make a Telecaster a

It’s really beautifully organic, and any other

Telecaster: its highly functional and playable

variations, like the Strat for example, have a

bolt-on maple neck (classically with maple finger-

nasal overtone.”

board, but a rosewood ’board alters the formula

1966 Telecaster Lake Placid Blue. Fretted Americana

(continued on page 141)

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 133

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 133 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 133

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 133

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Redd Volkaert

Redd Volkaert’s 1951 Nocaster. Courtesy Redd Volkaert

E

very inch the Texan both in speech and in attitude, Redd Volkaert actually acquired his twang and drawl in rural

Canada. Born in New Westminster, British Columbia, he left home at seventeen for Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, then various parts of Alberta before roving south and eventually ending up in Texas. Long before crossing the border, though, Volkaert was messing heavily with his ’58 Esquire, and the music. Working on the latter, he forged his own breed of searing twang by melding his beloved country and the inevitable rock ’n’ roll. On the former, he did what most kids did in the mid-’70s and hacked some wood

134 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 134 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 134

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 134

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Redd Volkaert’s ’58 Esquire. Courtesy Redd Volkaert

out of an otherwise pristine vintage instrument to wedge a fatter

Don Kelly Band at the Stage Coach Lounge, a gig that had proved a

pickup into the neck position. “I ruined it early on,” he confesses.

springboard other successful pickers. While the four-year run with

“I wanted to be a rock god. . . . I took a screwdriver and a hammer,

Kelly would help to secure Vokaert’s reputation, his own springboard

like a fourteen-year-old genius, and made a big old gaping hole

to more significant success came in 1997, when a country music

under there.” First in was a Gibson P-90, but after seeing Roy

legend called to ask him to replace one of his own early heroes.

Nichols come through Edmonton playing with Merle Haggard with a

In his stint with Merle Haggard, Volkaert was often praised

Charlie Christian pickup in the neck position of his own Telecaster,

as the most Ray Nichols–like of the Nichols replacements. And

Volkaert ripped a Christian from an old lap steel and popped it into

as such, he wowed audiences in parts farther afield than he had

his Esquire, where it has remained ever since.

ever traveled before. In 2000, tiring of the “bubble-gum” nature

Aspiring rock god-dom gave way to the country music that

of Nashville’s popular music scene, Volkaert—though still tour-

was proving to be his true love, and in 1981 Volkaert joined tra-

ing with Haggard—relocated to Austin. He relates, “The crowds in

ditional outfit the Prairie Fire Band, moving over to Danny Hopper

Austin seem to accept people for their musical ability more than

and Country Spunk (featuring fiddle virtuoso Calvin Vollrath) a few

their clothes or lack of, hair or lack of, hats or lack of. . . .” The

years after that. Volkaert headed to California in 1986, where he

Haggard gig aside, Volkaert took his solo career from strength to

landed some significant gigs but ultimately struggled to stay afloat

strength (with several solid releases since the move to Austin,

financially, before drifting the way of all serious pickers to struggle

after his 1998 solo debut Telewacker) while also landing him sit-

even more, initially, in Nashville. Hard work and hot licks eventually

ins with, perhaps, one of the longest lists of eminently droppable

paid the dues, though, and Volkaert landed a residency job with the

names in the business, including Al Cooper, Johnny Paycheck,

R E D D V O L K A E R T • 135

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 135 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 135

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 135

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Redd Volkaert

Redd Volkaert’s ’53 Telecaster. Courtesy Redd Volkaert

Redd Volkaert’s ’63 Telecaster Custom. Courtesy Redd Volkaert

Through the years, the hard road time and heavy twang earned Volkaert the reputation of being a Tele player’s Tele player. “There isn’t a Fender on the planet that plays as good as a Gibson, I don’t Merle Travis, the Statler Brothers, Albert Lee, John Jorgenson,

think,” he opines, “but by the same token, to me, if it’s too easy, it’s

Marty Stewart, Eric Johnson, Billy Gibbons, Neko Case, Hank

kind of harder for me to get something out of the guitar. Whereas if

Williams III, Bobby Bare, Ray Price, Garth Hudson, and on and

you’re wrestling with something, you’re going to milk and squeeze

on. In 2009 he also earned a Grammy Award for Best Country

and twist and turn and bite your tongue and move your lip a certain

Instrumental Performance as one of the pickers on Brad

way just to get it to work for you. When you do . . . it’s kind of like

Paisley’s “Cluster Pluck.”

puttin’ your stamp on the sound a little bit more.”

136 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 136 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 136

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 136

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

I’ve been accused of being born with a Tele in my hands. My mother says, “No, that’s not the case”—although I wish I had, because I might be a better player having had it that much longer. I got my first ’58 Esquire when I was thirteen, and the hook went in! My dad brought it home one day and said, “I’ve got you a guitar like Buck Owens plays.” Prior to that guitar, I had gotten a ’58 Strat in a pawnshop with my paper route money. My dad made me make monthly payments on that Esquire (more paper route work) til I paid him for it. And to teach me about patience and staying mad at him, he let me play the guitar on Sundays for just twenty minutes. He said, “You can’t take it anywhere til it’s paid for, cause it’s not yours yet, and if you lose it or break it, then I’m out all that money.” He won it on a pool game, so I’d say he actually had zero in it. After it was paid for, I used that guitar and didn’t touch my Strat for at least ten years. I loved everything about that Esquire, even the hard edges of the body that made my arm sore after hours of practice every day. After having the Esquire for a year, I cut a hole in the neck position with a hammer and a chisel to install a Gibson P-90. I dreamed I could sound like Don Rich and Roy Nichols—as well as Johnny Winter and Dickey Betts—with my new pickup! From then on, any money I’d save, guess where it went? I left home at seventeen and moved 1,200 miles away to play six nights a week in a traveling bar band, so if I wasn’t

practicing, playing, or jamming, I’d be in the local music stores and pawnshops buying, selling, and trading, all the while trying to upgrade my gear and ultimately collect cool guitars— mainly old Teles. I purchased my first blackguard by the time I was twenty-three and have been on a Tele mission since. Each Telecaster has a unique sound and feel to it, and to me, certain eras have a certain sound. I won’t start a war by saying which era is best, but they definitely have distinct differences. I believe Jimmy Bryant (the first Fender endorser), Buck Owens, and Don Rich, Mike Bloomfield, Muddy Waters, Roy Nichols, Jimmy Page, and James Burton were all on to something way back then. Even later on, folks like Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, and Bill Kirchen have all been bitten and smitten by the Tele bug. Just listen to any of these folks’ recordings and you’ll agree: the sound is exhilarating, exciting, and just cuts through the mix in an awesome way—never mind the mind-bending playing of all these Tele-nuts and hundreds more musicians that I could mention. I think the Telecaster had a sound these guys loved, and they individually added a huge contribution to electric music. Without the Telecaster, there would be a lot less music for the world to enjoy. There’d also be more crime on the streets from would-be guitar players who couldn’t find the right guitar and turned to an alternative life on the dark side instead. —Redd Volkaert, May 2012

R E D D V O L K A E R T • 137

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 137 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 137

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 137

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Pete Anderson Pete Anderson’s 1959 Custom Esquire. This was one of Anderson’s main guitars with Dwight Yoakam, used on many tours and played on at least four of Yoakam’s early 1990s recordings. Courtesy Pete Anderson and Kevin Sepriano

and further afield with the band Hollywood Gumbo and others, Anderson drifted from the blues back to hard-twang country. In the early ’80s, he met Dwight Yoakam and forged a partnership that became one of the most potent in the history of country music. Yoakam had moved to Los Angeles after

I

n taking the crucial roles of both lead guitarist and producer on

rejecting the pop-country pabulum that was the

Dwight Yoakam’s formative recordings and tours, Pete Anderson

stock-in-trade of Nashville in the early ’80s. He forged a Bakersfield-

played a major part in bringing “real” back to country in the late

influenced sound infused with the hard-driving honky-tonk and

1980s and early ’90s and beyond—and it’s no surprise that he did

authentic twang of artists such as Buck Owens and the Buckaroos,

it on a Telecaster. Anderson was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1948,

and found an able and willing compadre in Anderson. His first full-

and first gained a love of music from the country and Elvis records

length release, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc, Etc, of 1986, is widely hailed

that his father played at home. After graduating from college,

as having launched the “New Country” movement (alongside Steve

Anderson played hardcore urban blues in several Detroit bands

Earle’s Guitar Town of the same year), and it did so in large part

and eventually moved west in the early 1970s to pursue a

by reminding listeners how powerful a few great Tele licks can be.

career as a musician. Paying his dues around Los Angeles

Licks, for example, like Anderson’s seminal playing on the title track.

138 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 138 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 138

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 138

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Pete Anderson’s 1956 Telecaster, nicknamed Ruby Slipper. He used it on Dwight Yoakam’s Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc, Etc. Courtesy Pete Anderson and Kevin Sepriano

The guitar that laid down the earliest of those licks is Anderson’s 1957 Telecaster, nicknamed “Ruby Slippers” for the ruby glitter refinishing job applied to it many years ago. Anderson purchased “Ruby” at Guitars R Us in Hollywood in the early ’80s and used it on “Guitars, Cadillacs” as well as many other Yoakam cuts. The guitarist’s other significant Yoakam-associated instrument is a black 1959 Esquire that he acquired from the famed Ray Hennig’s Heart of Texas music store in Austin in the late ’80s. Purportedly owned by Eric Johnson before being put up for sale, the Esquire carries a replacement six-saddle bridge, a refin done by Pat Wilkins in LA around 1990, and a Broadcaster bridge pickup wound by Seymour Duncan himself. It was used on several early ’90s recordings with Yoakam and taken on many tours. In addition to his vintage Fenders, Anderson has played and endorsed guitars made by both Tom Anderson (no relation) and Reverend. A prominent solo artist in his own right, Anderson’s blend of blues-inflected working-class country can be heard on several full-length releases, including Working Class, Dogs in Heaven, Daredevil, Even Things Up, and Birds Above Guitarland. He also produced other artists in the studio, such as the Backsliders, the Lonesome Strangers, the Meat Puppets, Michelle Shocked, Rosie Flores, and several others.

P E T E A N D E R S O N • 139

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 139 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 139

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 139

16/7/20 5:02 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Jerry Donahue Donahue has been regarded a major Tele-slinger since he joined Fairport Convention in 1973. Fin Costello/Redferns/ Getty Images

A

lthough he has often played Tele-style guitars by other

showed a prowess on the guitar from an early age. After moving from

makers, notably his signature model Peavey Omniac JD

emulating players like Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy, and Hank Marvin in

and Fret-King Black Label model, as well as going against type on

his teens, Donahue evolved his own amalgam of styles based on

a modified Stratocaster, Jerry Donahue remains a formative, and

hot country and swing, with some Celtic and broader folk influences

formidable, Tele-slinger, and an undisputed entrant into the annals

thrown in. He was right at home, therefore, with the British band

of hot-licks Telecaster players. He is accomplished in a wide range

Fatheringay, and his move to join the iconic folk-rockers Fairport

of playing styles, but Donahue is best known for his fast country,

Convention in 1973 seemed a natural progression. Donahue helped

electric-folk, and country-rock playing, and particularly his slick

to maintain that band’s instrumental prowess for four albums until

tricks and acrobatic bends, both on the fingerboard and behind

Donahue moved on again after 1975’s Rising for the Moon.

the nut. In short, Donahue’s playing epitomizes what many guitar

Post-Fairport, Donahue’s career has included recorded and live

fans think of when “hot Tele” comes to mind, and he has blown the

performances with a stunning list of major artists, including Elton

minds of many for the better part of four decades.

John, George Harrison, the Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Nanci Griffith,

Donahue made his jump to the big leagues after he moved to

and several others. Donahue’s debut solo album, 1986’s Telecast-ing,

England in 1970. He was often thought of as a British-based gui-

is a perennial entrant on critics’ “best Tele recordings” lists, and was

tarist, but he’s a Yank, born in Manhattan in 1946 and raised in

reissued as Tele-casting Recast in 1999, with added material. As if one

Los Angeles. With big-band saxophonist Sam Donahue for a

blinding Tele warrior wasn’t enough, Donahue formed the Hellecasters

father and actress Patricia Donahue for a mother, Jerry was

in 1990 along with Will Ray and John Jorgenson, unleashing three

encouraged in his artistic endeavors right from the start and

blinding, bending speed freaks on unsuspecting guitar fans.

140 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 140 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 140

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 140

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1952 Telecaster. Fretted Americana

(continued from page 133) Part of the Telecaster’s tonal magic certainly springs from the player, and the fact that the instrument itself is a pure and uncluttered sonic template. The Tele’s simplicity forces the performer to strive for a certain sonic versatility in their very playing style, achieving it with the fingers, pick, and other cornerstone elements of “playing the guitar.” “A lot of those guys—I call ’em whiners,” says Redd Volkaert, former Merle Haggard sideman and twangster extraordinaire, “they’re used to playing a certain way with their hand always in the one spot on their [other make of guitar]. They’re used to one thing. And on a Telecaster, if you play up by the neck it’s a completely different sound; play in the middle it changes completely again; back by the bridge it’s bitey and gnarly. You use that kind of like you would use an effect, you know, for what you need on the song and all of that. So in that way it’s a lot more versatile. You take one of the [other make of guitars], I don’t care where you hit ’em, they all sound the same, and you pass it to the next guy, it’s going to sound the same when he plays it. Where a Telecaster, I think, is a lot more versatile depending on who plays it, and how they play.” Solo artists and former Commander Cody guitarist Bill Kirchen concurs. “The Tele always strikes me as the bicycle of electric guitars: it’s the most efficient way to get from point A to point B. And it’s also the most bang-for-the-buck sound per pound, the least amount of material, almost, to get all that you need in an electric guitar. It always strikes me when I pick it up—and over 99 percent of my career has been on a Tele—and whenever I pick up a rock ’n’ roll guitar, something with big fat frets, low action, and a big fat tone with a lot of distortion maybe, you know, it’s almost too easy to play. I certainly don’t want to denigrate the whole genre of rock guitar, because there are plenty of great players, but

design, the wood used to construct it, and the hardware and elec-

it almost seems to me like you have to wrestle with the Tele, you’ve

tronic components mounted to it. As such, many Tele fanatics

got to work to get the sound out of it. And . . . there’s a particular

will tell you that this guitar is the ultimate electric for playing

culture of hot-licks Tele playing that I think has been dictated, to

clean. It drives the amp in a way that gives you the full resonant

a certain extent, just by the simplicity of the guitar.”

and overtone-laden potential of the guitar itself, and yet segues

From a tonal perspective, much of the Telecaster’s mystique

into optimum harmonic saturation when pushed into overdrive.

clearly has to do with its purity, clarity, and harmonic complexity,

With that in mind, let’s break down some of the crucial compo-

which are joint products of the ingredients that go into it—its

nents that contribute to this magic.

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 141

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 141 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 141

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 141

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

ELEMENTS OF THE TELECASTER DESIGN

1952 Telecaster. Fretted Americana

Aspects of the Telecaster’s basic design have, naturally, been covered throughout the course of this book, but it’s worth summing them up here. By “design,” I mean the on-paper template, specifications that are largely intangible rather than the material ingredients, but which nevertheless contributes to the guitar’s sound and function. While they don’t have the romance of a well-aged tonewood or a vintage pickup, these intangibles form a considerable part of the cornerstone of the Telecaster’s tone. The Solid “Slab” Body This ingredient might seem a “given” since it forms the major part of the premise for putting the Telecaster on its pedestal as “first production solid-body electric,” but its contribution to the tonal formula can’t be ignored. Aside from the sonic properties of the common tonewoods used in Telecaster bodies, which will be discussed in their own right further along, the sheer method of construction of a guitar with a slab-styled body made from one or two pieces of the same wood, with minimal use of glue and lack of adornments, lends its own tonal characteristics to the instrument. It is difficult to quantify such factors, but suffice it to say that such a design allows a relatively unencumbered vibration of the wood itself, and since there is only one wood involved, it presents the pure characteristics of that wood. The end result is heard in the Telecaster’s clarity and tonal purity, which is emphasized by other elements of the design, but is certainly anchored here. Also, while some players will talk of a Tele as “lacking sus-

rock music, too). Often, comparing both types unplugged, a

tain,” they are often actually hearing the single-coil pickups and

good Telecaster will sustain longer than almost any popular set-

the fact that these guitars are predominantly used for “cleaner”

neck, humbucker-loaded guitar you might compare it to.

musical styles (though Teles have certainly made plenty of great

(continued on page 146)

142 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 142 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 142

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 142

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Custom Shop 60th Anniversary Broadcaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 143

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 143 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 143

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 143

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Chrissie Hynde Chrissie Hynde has wielded numerous Telecasters, but her blue model with a mirror pickguard has long been a signature of the Pretenders. Ebet Roberts/Redferns/ Getty Images

While attending college at Kent State University in Ohio, Hynde briefly formed a band with Mark Mothersbaugh, later of Devo, then packed up and headed east to London, where the real action seemed to be in the early ’70s. Even before forming the Pretenders, Hynde was involved in musical projects— often precursors to other punk and underground bands that would later emerge—with Mick Jones (the Clash), Jon Moss (Culture Club), Steve Strange, members of the Damned, Tony James (Generation X), and

A

future Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren. Dave fter struggling through her efforts to kick-start a career

Hill, the owner of London indie label Real Records, took Hynde under

amidst London’s punk scene of the late ’70s, Chrissie Hynde

his wing in 1978 and helped her form a band. Bassist Pete Farndon

emerged in the early ’80s, Telecaster in hand, to offer some of the

was first into the fray, followed by guitarist James Honeyman-Scott

most infectiously tuneful creations of the early post-punk years.

and drummer Martin Chambers—and the Pretenders were born.

Born in Akron, Ohio, in 1951, Hynde was the archetypal high-

Early in 1979, the band logged an early hit with a cover of the

school outsider and consummate music fan, irresistibly drawn

Kinks’ “Stop Your Sobbing.” The eponymous debut album released

to the excitement she perceived in the rock music world and,

later that year received wide critical acclaim and reasonable com-

inevitably, her own part in the midst of it all.

mercial success, and issued hit singles in “Brass in Pocket” and

144 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 144 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 144

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 144

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

single “Back on the Chain Gang,” released in November of 1982. A song that pairs an upbeat arrangement to the melancholy tale about getting back to work after the death of Honeyman-Scott, it appeared on the band’s next album, 1984’s Learning to Crawl, alongside another hit dedicated to the former Pretender guitarist, the haunting ballad “2000 Miles.” In the years that followed, the “Kid,” as well as several other standout tracks. In the early ’80s

Pretenders continued to enjoy steady success, and Hynde also

Pretenders II was another strong showing, with solid singles in

turned her hand to several guest appearances and side projects.

“Talk of the Town” and “Message of Love,” but it failed to catch

From the start, Hynde’s own guitar duties were primarily to

fire like the debut album had nearly two years before. Adding to the

cover the rhythm, while Honeyman-Scott laid down tasty hooks and

strains of “the difficult second album,” interpersonal issues within

solos that displayed surprising maturity and a keen melodic sense

the band, exacerbated by Farndon’s drug abuse, took a toll on the

for his young years (he was just twenty-five at the time of his death).

band. Farndon was fired on June 14, 1982—purportedly a crushing

Even so, Hynde’s blue Telecaster mirror pickguard has long been

blow for the bassist—but more significantly, guitarist Honeyman-

a signature of the band, both sonically and visually. Not that the

Scott was found dead of heart failure just two days later, following

instrument has been entirely sheltered from lead duties: Honeyman-

an apparent cocaine overdose. Less than a year later, drugs claimed

Scott borrowed Hynde’s Tele to record the catchy intro riff and solo

Farndon’s life, too.

to the song “Kid,” and can be seen playing a white-guard early ’60s

Although such a twofold tragedy would be enough to destroy

Telecaster with rosewood fingerboard (still with its original blonde

most bands, the Pretenders got back to the grindstone pretty

finish and white pickguard) in photos shot in the studio from about

quickly. Hynde and Chambers were joined by Rockpile guitarist

that time. Later, Hynde also took gold and silver sparkle Telecasters

Billy Bremner and Big Country bassist Tony Butler to record the hit

on the road, as well as a more originally equipped early ’60s Tele.

C H R I S S I E H Y N D E • 145

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 145 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 145

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 145

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

(continued from page 142)

It so happens that Fender’s narrow single-coil pickups, his bridge configuration, and the bolt-on maple

The 25½-Inch Scale Length

neck all further accentuate harmonic clarity

Guitar-maker Ralph Novak, in his lecture to the 1995 con-

and high-end presence, so the total package

vention of the Guild of American Luthiers, stated that,

really is working together toward Fender’s

of all factors that affect a guitar’s tone, “scale length

desired tonal ends. But, as Novak put it, “if the

comes first because the harmonic content of the

harmonic structure is not present in the string tone,

final tone produced by the instrument begins with

it won’t exist in the final tone.”

the string. Factors such as structure and materials can

The slightly longer Fender scale length also

only act as ‘filters’ to tone; they can’t add anything, they

increases the string tension, making the strings

only modify input. Therefore, if the harmonic structure

feel a bit firmer to the fingertips. This is par-

is not present in the string tone, it won’t exist in the

ticularly true on the Telecaster, which lacks the

final tone.” Scale length is, therefore, a cornerstone of

Stratocaster’s spring-loaded vibrato bridge and

design for any thoughtful maker, and one of the first

the somewhat forgiving feel that this compo-

decisions to be settled when conceiving the voice

nent brings with it, particularly when a player

of an instrument. The fact that Leo Fender settled

is bending strings. The relative tautness of the

on the 25½-inch scale for the Telecaster (and the

Telecaster’s strings is perhaps one other ingredi-

Stratocaster and Jazzmaster that would follow)

ent that has endeared it to country pickers, who

seems, in fact, to have been a happy accident,

can find shorter-scale guitars, or Stratocasters,

but the choice served to emphasize many of the

a little too “floppy” when they dig in.

other sonic characteristics that he was hoping to achieve with this guitar.

The 7¼-inch fingerboard radius on vintage Fender guitars (the curve at which the

Put simply, the longer the “speaking

top of the fingerboard is milled) also contrib-

length” of any guitar’s strings (that is, its scale

utes greatly to the guitar’s playing feel, and to

length, the distance between bridge sad-

some extent has always dictated how it was

dle and nut slot), the more distance there

approached. Smaller than the radius used on

is between the strings’ harmonic points.

any other popular model of guitar, this tight

The result is that relatively longer scale

circle results in more curve to the surface of

lengths have a greater presence of sonic

the fingerboard, and in one sense, a neck

qualities often described as “shimmer”

that can feel extremely natural and com-

or “sparkle” or “chime.” Leo copied

fortable in the hand, for basic open chords

the scale length of a Gretsch archtop

played in the lower positions in particular.

guitar when designing the guitar that

The rounder the radius, though, the harder

would become the Telecaster, but it

it can be to bend strings on the finger-

turns out that the 25½-inch scale

board, or to do so without “choking out,”

length accentuates the qualities he

a phenomenon whereby the curvature of

was looking for more than if he’d

the fingerboard mutes a bent string and

chosen to model the guitar after a

causes it to die out prematurely.

24¾-inch Gibson. 1952 Telecaster. Fretted Americana

146 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 146 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 146

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 146

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Obviously, plenty of players do bend strings successfully on the Tele, and the extremes of the “faux-steel bend” are a big part of country guitar playing in general. But the 7¼-inch fingerboard radius (compared to a flatter twelve inches on Gibsons, for example) might, in part, force Tele players into the more staccato, rapid-fire playing style that epitomizes hot country picking. “They don’t have a tremendous amount of sustain,” says Bill Kirchen, “so let’s throw a few more notes in there! You get into the culture of hot licks, and of course there’s hot licks playing on all kinds of guitars, but there’s a particular culture of hot-licks Tele playing that I think has been dictated, to a certain extent, just by the design of the guitar.” The Bolt-Neck Construction While the neck itself, the wood screws, and the mounting plate that hold it in place are all certainly “tangible” components, it is probably best to consider the so-called “bolt neck” in theory

Neck plate of a 1954 Telecaster. Guitar courtesy of Elderly Instruments, photo Dave Matchette

for its contribution to the Telecaster’s voice, regardless of the wood and hardware that comprise it. Leo Fender adopted the bolt-on neck—which was at first derided by some traditionalists in the early 1950s—for its ease of construction and ease

a well-executed glued-on neck (or “set neck”), which has glue

of repair, but this element of the Telecaster design brings a

forming a bond between neck heel and body pocket, and this

specific component to the guitar’s tone, too.

leads to noticeable changes in tone and response.

A well-cut and tightly fitted screwed-on neck joint (as the

As heard in a traditional Telecaster, some sonic charac-

Telecaster is, with wood screws rather than actual “bolts”) can

teristics of the bolt-on neck joint include a certain percussive

easily be as tight, and even tighter, than a glued neck joint,

“snap” and “spank” in the tone, a more clearly defined sense

in terms of neck-wood-on-pocket-wood pressure. However

of pick attack in the note, and an increase in that bright,

tight such a joint might be, though, the neck and body

shimmery characteristic that I can only think to define as

woods remain the slightest bit decoupled, thanks

“jangle” or “chime.” While a glued neck joint con-

to the inevitable presence of air gaps—microscopic

tributes to an increased sense of warmth and depth

though they may be—between the two surfaces, due

on many set-neck guitars—simply put, more “hair”

to natural inconsistencies in wood grain, dimples, or

around the note—and a corresponding blurring of

irregularities in the finish, and so on. In reality, most

the attack and decay, a Telecaster often exhibits a dis-

vintage Fender neck pockets and neck heels are not

tinctive “pop” in the pick or finger attack that is heard

cut particularly tightly in the first place anyway,

as if layered atop the body of the note, a sonic entity

and these joints are often not as tight as those on

that is separate from the sound that tails off into the

guitars made by many skilled contemporary luth-

decay of that note. A big part of this comes to us

iers. In any case, even if it has the potential to be

courtesy of the bolt-on neck joint.

tighter, the bolt-on neck is not as seamless a joint as

(continued on page 154)

1968 Telecaster. Doug Youland/Willie’s American Guitars P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 147

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 147 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 147

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 147

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Jim Campilongo Jim Campilongo and his trusty 1959 Telecaster with top-loader bridge. JR Delia

Top-loader bridge without the side bolsters. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Soon, however, Campilongo was indeed playing the

A

guitar himself, and with a passion. Studying with noted lthough he originally hailed from the opposite coast and

Bay Area guitarist and teacher Bunnie Gregoire, he was

was born in the year that the senior Tele-wrangler began

schooled in everything from jazz to pop to folk, and began playing

his professional career (1958), Jim Campilongo is often considered

out in local clubs in his late teens. In the mid-’90s he gigged and

an heir apparent to the late Roy Buchanan, in musical spirit and

recorded with the 10 Gallon Cats, but departed that outfit in 1998

unbridled eclecticism, as well as for sheer chops. Ask the San

to more fully embrace the full breadth of his own eclecticism, first

Francisco–born Campilongo what first inspired him (without

expressed in the solo album Table for One. All the while, Campilongo

postulating this rather flattering theory up front), and it’s interesting

had been teaching guitar to local students to make ends meet, and,

to hear that there might be some sense to the notion. “Roy Buchanan.

having already embraced the Telecaster, one such lesson afforded

Absolutely,” is the unequivocal reply. “I had listened to quite a bit

him the opportunity to acquire another. “I taught this guy for like

of guitar even before I played guitar. Probably the first guitar line I

three years, and it got kind of tough—he was struggling,” says

really went bananas over was the 45 RPM version of [The Beatles’]

Campilongo. “Anyways, he was a guitar collector, and one day he

‘Revolution.’ It’s like a ‘Johnny B. Goode’ kind of thing, but super

brought over this Telecaster. I had a Tele already . . . but I got his

distorted. I just went nuts over that, which obviously isn’t a Tele,

and put it on my chest, and all of a sudden it was like some flaws

but when I heard Roy Buchanan—and I think I was twelve and

in my technical ability were eliminated. It was like I could play way

I hadn’t played yet—the sound just called my name. I think a

more effortlessly and more dynamically, and if that’s called ‘falling

lot of people share that.”

in love with a guitar,’ I guess that’s what happened.” Noting his

148 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 148 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 148

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 148

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Custom Shop Jim Campilongo Signature Telecaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

teacher’s enthusiasm for the instrument, the student offered a proposition: “He said, ‘You know, if I ever learn guitar, I’ll give you that Telecaster.’ So I’m like, ‘This figures!’” As fortune would have it, though, the student who struggled

death. There are huge holes and crevices on the neck—it’s really

on guitar one day brought in a Fender Precision Bass, asked his

scalloped. . . . There are certain notes that you literally can’t bend

teacher to show him a few walking lines on the four-string instead,

out of.” Having segued through a T-style replacement by custom

and picked it up with surprising ease. The bargain long forgotten

builder Chihoe Hahn, Campilongo now plays the Fender Custom

by Campilongo, the newly christened bassist showed up one day

Shop Jim Campilongo Signature Telecaster, a blonde top-loader like

with the Telecaster of his dreams and handed it over. “About eight

his beloved ’59, crafted to the precise specs of the vintage original,

months after I got it somebody tells me, ‘Wow, that’s a top loader!’”

without the divots and extreme playing wear.

the guitarist recalls. “And he says, ‘Top-loaders don’t sound as

In 2002 Campilongo took his bag east to New York City and

good.’ I told him, ‘Really, but I love this guitar,’ and I also really liked

became a fixture on that scene. In addition to recording and touring

that it was a great writing desk, you could just turn it over and write

the United States and Europe, his own group, the Jim Campilongo

on the back because there are no holes back there.” For the fol-

Electric Trio (with Stephan Crump and Tony Mason), maintained a

lowing eighteen years, this blonde 1959 white-’guard “top-loader”

Monday night residency at the Living Room in NYC for several years.

Telecaster with maple neck was the tool behind Campilongo’s blis-

Campilongo also performed and recorded with the side project he

tering performances, both live and on record.

set up in 2003, the Little Willies, a band that also featured Norah

Some six years into his ownership of the instrument, a shorted

Jones, Dan Rieser, Lee Alexander, and Richard Julian. In demand

bridge pickup would be re-wound, and over the following years sev-

as a session guitarist and sideman, Campilongo has also gigged

eral re-frets and considerable playing wear would usher it toward

and recorded with J.J. Cale, Norah Jones, Martha Wainwright, Gillian

the inevitable retirement. “Basically, that guitar has been played to

Welch, Teddy Thompson, Cake, Bright Eyes, and several others.

J I M C A M P I L O N G O • 149

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 149 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 149

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 149

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Marty Stuart Marty Stuart slings the ’52 Esquire that once belonged to Mick Ronson. Jason Moore/ZUMA Press Inc./Alamy

L

ike a handful of other Telecaster stars, Marty Stuart began his

In 1980, Stuart visited Susie White, the wife of late Byrds

musical career as a child prodigy, and on an entirely different

guitarist Clarence White, to ostensibly purchase another guitar that

instrument, segueing smoothly to Tele-mastery the way so many

she was selling. After asking about White’s original B-Bender guitar,

country and bluegrass players have done over the years. Stuart was

Susie allowed him to play it, then offered it up for sale. Much to

born in Philadelphia, Mississippi, in 1958 and took up mandolin and

his own surprise, Stuart departed with one of country-rock’s most

guitar at an early age. Displaying a prodigious talent, Stuart was

storied instruments, and he has frequently recorded and toured

playing professionally by his pre-adolescent years. Stuart landed a

with it ever since. “I’ve never considered it my guitar, really. It’s

recording date with Lester Flatt at the age of thirteen, and was on the

his,” Stuart told Rusty Russell for Vintage Guitar magazine in 2004,

road with the legendary bluegrass guitarist soon after. From Flatt’s

“and now it kind of has a life of its own. The spring gets dry and

band, Stuart worked as a hired sideman with Vassar Clements, Doc

squeaks, so I spray WD-40 on it now and then, but I’ve never

Watson, Johnny Cash, and others, before stretching out as a solo

cleaned it. All the dirt inside and behind the strings is the original

artist in his own right. Since the release of his self-titled debut solo

dirt. We call it ‘Clarence.’”

album in 1986, and a notable string of country hits in the early ’90s,

Another Stuart favorite is a 1952 Esquire that once belonged to

Stuart has won five Grammy Awards and several other accolades.

Mick Ronson, and two original Paisley Telecasters from the late ’60s

A self-described “hillbilly rocker,” Stuart has the chops of a

also adorn his collection. When we say “collection,” though, we’re

top-tier hot-Tele player, but adds a certain grit and swagger to

not talking glass cases and climate-controlled vaults. As Stuart told

his playing. In aid of that tone, he has been a Telecaster player

Guitar Player, “They’re still working guitars. I play every single guitar

right from the start, and his guitar collection includes examples

I have. They have to earn their keep.” No doubt Leo Fender—and

with some powerful pedigree to help him along.

Clarence White, and Mick Ronson—would want it that way.

150 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 150 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 150

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 150

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Bill Frisell While the Telecaster may seem rather basic for a versatile performer like Bill Frisell, the guitarist cites its simplicity as its chief virtue. Here, he performs at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival in Cheltenham, England, in May 2008. Steve Thorne/Redferns/Getty Images

T

he New Yorker once noted, “Bill Frisell plays the guitar like

as well as a Fender Custom

Miles Davis played the trumpet; in the hands of such radical

Shop Relic Telecaster—but

thinkers, their instruments simply become different animals.” It’s

he doesn’t seem particu-

hard to beat that for a definition of the otherwise indefinable style

lar about vintage specs or

of this elusive Tele-meister. Often categorized as a jazzer, Frisell

high-end models. “Actually,

has offered stirring support to rocking artists such as Elvis Costello,

my main Tele is a Mexican one,” Frisell

David Sylvian, Ginger Baker, and Lucinda Williams. Of course, he has

told Fender News in 2011. “It was like $500, and it’s great! That’s

also logged his time with jazz greats, including his work with Jim

what I’ve been playing for the last few months. One time I tried

Hall, Dave Holland, Elvin Jones, and the occasional trio made up of

to figure out how many Fender guitars I’ve had in my life, and

Ron Carter and Paul Motian. Frisell has played other guitars, but the

it was kind of horrifying!” And if the Telecaster seems a rather

Tele has returned time and again as his go-to.

basic instrument for such a versatile and eclectic player, Frisell’s

Frisell’s first significant break in the NYC jazz scene came when

arguments for its merits destroy such thinking. “They’re so sim-

young jazz-guitar star Pat Metheny recommended Bill to fill in for

ple, and everything just works. . . . I can get from where it can

a session that he couldn’t make. The gig resulted in Paul Motian’s

almost sound like an acoustic guitar, or it can sound like a big,

Psalms album for EMC Records, and landed Frisell a steady job as a

fat hollow-body guitar. Or it can have a ‘stereotypical’ Tele sound.

house guitarist of sorts for the prominent jazz label. In 1982, Frisell

People associate them with that ‘twangy’ thing, but they have

recorded his first outing as a solo artist in his own right, again for

this amazing clear low end. Just the range of what can happen

EMC, and since that time—he has never looked back.

with them is so extreme, without having eight-hundred pick-

He has owned and played several standout Telecasters throughout his career—including original examples from 1966 and 1974,

ups on it. . . . If something breaks on it, you can almost fix it with a pocket knife.”

B I L L F R I S E L L • 151

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 151 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 151

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 151

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Vince Gill

Vince Gill performs in concert in Hollywood, Florida, in 2007. Michael Bush/Alamy

A

consummate Tele-wrangler, Vince Gill is a player with an immense talent that is often too easy to overlook, given the ease and

nonchalance with which he wields the blinding licks that have stopped other guitar greats in their tracks. An accomplished vocalist and songwriter, Gill is a truly gifted instrumentalist in his own right, rather than a mere “frontman,” and therefore, he presents the entire package rather than just the “face” on the hits. Gill was born in 1957 in Norman, Oklahoma, where he was encouraged from a young age to pursue his talent by a lawyer father who

Since early in his career, Vince Gill’s main instrument has been a ’53 black guard that he bought in 1980 near Oklahoma City. Rusty Russell

was also a part-time musician. Gill initially moved east to Louisville,

152 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 152 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 152

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 152

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Kentucky, to join the band Bluegrass Alliance. He was picked

Guitar magazine’s John Heidt in 2011, “The older I get, the more

up by Ricky Skaggs for the band Boon Creek, then finally made

I want to play . . . most people, at first glance, perceive me as a

the trek west to join ace fiddler Byron Berline’s band Sundance.

country Tele player, but there’s a whole lot more influences than

Shortly after, Gill made the most

that in my playing and I

notable leap of his early career,

think it’s starting to come

and was picked up as the new

out.” Gill’s versatility as a

lead singer and guitarist for the

guitarist was perhaps best

band Pure Prairie League in

displayed in his several

1979, with whom he recorded

appearances on the bill for

the crossover hit “Let Me Love

Eric Clapton’s Crossroads

You Tonight” a year later. After

Festival, where he took

leaving Pure Prairie League

the

in 1981, Gill did a stint with

like Albert Lee, Keb’ Mo’,

Rodney Crowell’s band, the

James Burton, and Clapton

Cherry Bombs, before settling

himself. The guitars-first

in Nashville to pursue a solo

stance is also heavily in

career.

evidence on his 2011 studio

Since signing to MCA in

stage

with

artists

album, Guitar Slinger.

1983 Gill has enjoyed steady

Since early in his career,

and ever-ascending success.

Gill’s main instrument has

He has earned twenty-one Grammy

been a 1953 black-guard

Awards and eighteen CMA Awards, and in 2007 he was inducted

Telecaster. Another notable Tele in the impressive Gill collection

into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He has also been constantly in

is a 1950 Broadcaster, which he played on the Grammy-winning

demand as a collaborator and session artist, performing with Mark

duet “Cluster Pluck” with Brad Paisley, from the latter’s album

Knopfler, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Patty Loveless, Emmylou

Play. These Teles, and other Gill favorites, were saved from the

Harris, Rosanne Cash, Joe Bonamassa, and several others. For all

floods that severely damaged several instruments in his collection

the hits as a “traditional” Nashville artist, though (and there have

when his Nashville storage facility flooded in 2010. Fortunately,

been plenty—Gill has landed more than forty songs on Billboard’s

the guitarist’s most-played instruments were still in the tour van

Hot Country Songs chart, and sold more than 26 million albums),

when the disaster struck.

as his career progresses, the Tele slinger seems to want more and more to return to his roots as an instrumentalist. He told Vintage

V I N C E G I L L • 153

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 153 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 153

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 153

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

(continued from page 147)

The bold swamp ash grain visible through the finish of a 1954 Esquire. Fretted Americana

BASIC INGREDIENTS Every single component of this guitar plays a part in shaping its tone, so let’s examine the common body and neck woods, hardware, and electronics to see how they contribute to the glorious tone machine that is the Telecaster. Body Woods Although a few early Esquires were made with pine bodies, and some Fender reissues and boutique Tele-clone makers have turned again to that wood, ash really is the classic wood of the 1950s Telecaster. “Swamp ash,” as it is known in its more desirable form, is harvested from the lower portions of ash trees grown in the wetlands of the southern United States, and it is very different from harder, denser northern ash. A good, well-aged piece of swamp ash will even exhibit different resonant characteristics, and usually be significantly lighter, than timber cut from the upper portions of the very same wetlands ash tree. The tonal magic of a good piece of swamp ash is largely attributable to the porosity of the wood, itself attributable to the conditions in which it grows. Timber below or near the surface of a swamp or wetland absorbs greater quantities of water than higher parts of the tree, which causes the pores to swell. As the wood dries, these pores empty of water, leaving myriad tiny air pockets—and therefore, a relatively low density—in a wood that is nevertheless strong and workable. “Generally speaking,” says Chris Fleming, a master builder with the Fender Custom Shop, “ash can have a warm, round sound, with a bit of a focused cut to it. It can also be, depending on the guitar, a bit shrill, a bit snarly. But the best Teles sound wonderful; they’re round sounding, they’re rich, they’re very loud, and they cut through a band very well.” Dennis Fano, a builder best known for his Alt de Facto range that blends vintage Fender and Gibson specs and looks, adds, “Swamp ash is typically very ‘alive’ and has a brighter tone than mahogany or alder.”

154 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 154 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 154

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 154

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1956 Esquire. Fretted Americana

and Esquires were made with alder, the primary wood used for Stratocasters from the latter part of the mid-’50s onward. This division of wood types according to guitar finish points out one motivating force in the lumber shed: Fender liked the way that ash’s broad, attractive grain looked beneath a transparent blonde finish, whereas the fine, less dramatic grain exhibited by most alder was less appealing to the eye. It also begs a question regarding “classic” Fender tonewoods: if swamp ash is considered the archetypal Telecaster body wood, why didn’t the company—adept at promotion even in that innocent age—brag about its use in the guitars? As much as vintage aficionados rave about a great piece of swamp ash, there’s no mention of body-wood species at all in Fender promotional literature from the ’50s and early ’60s. To the best of this author’s knowledge, in fact, the first mention of body woods appears in the post-CBS Fender advertisements for the “Groovy Naturals” Thinline models, noting that they are available either in ash or mahogany. Regarding the move to alder, and any considerations at early Fender of the tonewoods used for body construction, Chris Fleming speculates: “I think it was more important to have a steady source of acceptable-quality wood to put into their prod-

It is clear from Leo Fender’s goals in developing the Telecaster,

ucts, and one of the main reasons that they went to alder was

however, that he was nearly as concerned with cost, supply, and

that it was probably cheaper and more readily available.” Even

ease of manufacture and repair as he was with pure tone. Although

so, alder does have slightly different sonic characteristics than

he would have valued the fact that swamp ash bodies produced a

swamp ash, and tends to have a strong, clear, full-bodied, and

sound that contributed toward his aims for the guitar, this timber’s

well-balanced sound, often with muscular lower-mids, firm lows,

tonal properties might not have been paramount among his rea-

and sweet highs. In many ways it might be considered a more

sons for selecting it. “Being a very frugal and production-minded

“open” sounding wood than swamp ash, one capable of pro-

guy,” says Fleming, “he looked for woods that he could get cheaply

ducing a guitar with a more versatile and better balanced tonal

and sustainably. At that time ash was a good candidate.”

palette, although it has never quite been considered “the classic

Sustainability of supplies was one of the major reasons

Tele tonewood.”

Fender moved to the second most significant Telecaster body

Several smaller contemporary Tele-style guitar makers are

wood on many guitars made nearly a decade after the model’s

producing guitars with bodies made of pine, or “sugar pine” as

introduction. In the late 1950s good ash became more difficult

it is often called, and Fender has also produced reissues of the

to get. Older, well-dried stocks were being used up, and newer

early prototypes in pine. Originally done in homage to the first

timber was often proving denser and heavier. Fender contin-

Esquires made by Fender during the development of the model,

ued to use ash on most blonde Teles and Esquires and the early

this is now seen as a viable alternative, and another variable

sunburst Custom models of the late ’50s, but from the early

beneath the broad umbrella of Telecaster tonal options.

’60s until the early ’70s, most custom-color and sunburst Teles

(continued on page 158)

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 155

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 155 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 155

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 155

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

D. Boon

D. Boon and his Telecaster Custom onstage at Swisher Gym, Jacksonville University, November 23, 1985. The Minutemen were touring in support of R.E.M. Boon died one month later in a van accident. Margaret Griffis (margaretgriffis.com)

F

ormed in San Pedro, California, in 1980, the Minutemen were

compelling accompaniment to quirky American tales sketched out

one of the more original bands on the West Coast punk scene.

within the Minutemen’s songs.

Hardcore in attitude, they nevertheless eschewed the usual hardcore

D. was born Dennes Boon in 1958 to an ex-Navy father and a

power-chord grind for a style that was equally fast, yet bouncy and

family that lived on the outskirts of San Pedro, California. He met his

wiry, more rhythmic than noise-driven. While each member of the

future bandmate Watt when he jumped on him from a tree during

trio offered a distinctive musical take on his role in the band—from

a game of army when the pair were thirteen years old. Together

Mike Watt’s busy, lolloping bass lines to George Hurley’s incessant,

with Hurley, they formed the band the Reactionaries in 1978, which

pounding drums—D. Boon’s playing arguably stood out most of

segued into the Minutemen in 1980. The band’s first glimpse of

all. Simultaneously funky and frenetic, sounding remotely like

the “big time” came with an opening slot for Black Flag later in

Steve Cropper sitting in with Iggy Pop after downing one too

1980, followed by a seven-inch vinyl EP, Paranoid Time, produced by

many triple espressos, his guitar work offered a unique and

Black Flag leader Greg Ginn, who was also the head of punk stable

156 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 156 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 156

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 156

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

SST Records. Over the next five years, the Minutemen undertook a grueling tour schedule and recorded four studio albums and several EPs, the best-known of the long-players being 1984’s Double Nickels on the Dime. Boon’s bright, strident tone was most often produced by a brown, early ’70s Telecaster Custom with a Wide Range humbucker in the neck position, a standard single-coil pickup in the bridge, and a maple fingerboard. He supplemented this guitar with a black Japanese Telecaster with two single coils, and later, another brown ’70s Tele Custom with rosewood fingerboard. His amp of choice was a Fender Twin Reverb, though he also occasionally used a Bandmaster head and cab. In either case, he plugged straight in, using a single, long cable. The Minutemen played their final show in Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 13, 1985. On December 22, during a road

death. The guitar was used by Nels Cline (now of Wilco) on the song

trip to Arizona, Boon was sleeping off a fever in the back of the

“The Boilerman” on Watt’s 1997 solo album Contemplating the

van when his girlfriend fell asleep behind the wheel and veered off

Engine Room, and has been played by Watt himself on some studio

I-10 into a roadside ditch. He was thrown from the van, suffered a

projects. In 2005, Rocket Fuel Films released the documentary We

broken neck, and died instantly. Mike Watt—who formed the band

Jam Econo—The Story of the Minutemen, which features original

Firehose in 1986 with Hurley and Minuteman fan Ed Crawford—

live performance footage as well as more than fifty interviews with

has owned Boon’s iconic Telecaster Custom ever since his friend’s

players on the early ’80s hardcore scene.

D . B O O N • 157

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 157 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 157

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 157

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

(continued from page 155)

classic Telecaster outings through cranked tube amps, Jimmy

Pine bodies tend to be lighter than all but the lightest swamp

Page’s solo on “Stairway to Heaven” and Bruce Springsteen’s solo

ash, which appeals to many players, and—although the wood’s

on “Candy’s Room.” You hear a thickness and meatiness with an

rough-construction-grade origins might imply otherwise—they

aggressive low-end growl that could, on one hand, almost fool

offer sonic enhancements that plenty enjoy, too. Pine Tele bodies

you into thinking Les Paul or SG, except for the presence of a

tend to contribute a certain openness overall, with sweet highs

distinctive, eviscerating clarity that neither of those Gibsons can

and round, if not entirely firm, lows. They sound a little dif-

achieve without a struggle. Even the popular Stratocaster, while

ferent from either swamp ash or alder, but however you slice it,

plenty bright and snappy, has a certain stabbing, glassy bite within

they still keep a Tele a Tele. Bill Kirchen, who has largely retired

its overdriven tone that pegs it as the single-coil Fender that it is.

his beat-up ’50s Telecaster, can be counted among the notable

The Telecaster, on the other hand, is capable of a depth that can

pine-bodied Tele players working today. “I’m playing pretty

make it a real fooler in many circumstances.

much exclusively an all-pine, no-truss-rod Rick Kelly Tele-style

Adding a rosewood fingerboard to an otherwise all-maple neck,

guitar,” says Kirchen. “I don’t think it’s true, but in my mind, the

as Telecasters featured almost exclusively from mid-1959 until the

neck is made from a banister that Bob Dylan slid down at the

mid-’60s, does add some warmth, roundness, and smoothness

Chelsea Hotel.”

to the guitar’s overall tone. These enhancements, however, are typically less pronounced than they are often thought to be—a

Neck Woods

contribution, many experienced makers will tell you, of perhaps

Its body style makes a Telecaster easy to recognize, even from

5 to 10 percent or so of the overall tone. As with any ingredient,

across a dimly lit concert hall, but the most distinctive charac-

though, the picture isn’t entirely black and white. “Using different

teristic of the guitar’s construction is arguably its bolt-on maple

materials for the rosewood,” says Fender’s Chris Fleming, “Indian

neck. This entire configuration figured highly in Leo Fender’s

rosewood as opposed to Brazilian rosewood—or what we use a lot

list of “easy to manufacture, easy to repair,” options, and we have

of now, which is Madagascan rosewood—makes a lot of differ-

already discussed the characteristics of the screwed-on joint itself,

ence in itself. My favorite rosewood to use on a Fender is Indian.

but the wood from which these necks were made is another sig-

Most [rosewood used by Fender] was Brazilian up until the early

nificant ingredient in the Tele formula.

’60s, and then it switched to mostly Indian because in the mid-

Maple is a hard, dense wood, and it contributes characteristics

1960s Brazilian began becoming a problem. But Brazilian, in my

of brightness and clarity to the overall sound of the instrument.

opinion, is a bit too bright. Once again, though, it depends on

Even beyond their tonal characteristics, maple necks offer ele-

the actual piece. Brazilian can be very dense and ringing, which is

ments of response and performance that blend with their sonic

nice in some combinations. . . . I’m not wild about Brazilian on

contribution, enhancing a Telecaster in a way that encompasses

maple, although other guys will tell you I’m crazy.”

both the sound and “feel” of the guitar as an instrument. The

As discussed in History of the Telecaster, it is highly possible

immediacy of maple’s response helps to give the guitars a per-

that Fender changed to rosewood for reasons other than tone.

ceived “snap” and “quack”—these are other characteristics that

Having been happy to be the rebel at the time of the solidbody’s

contribute to the classic twang tone.

introduction, Fender was perhaps trying a slightly classier presen-

As it happens, the maple neck also partners extremely well

tation by the late ’50s. The use of a rosewood fingerboard on the

with an ash body to achieve clarity and articulation. While we

Jazzmaster in 1958 seemed de rigueur for a guitar aimed at the

might think of these as characteristics of the classic electric country

jazz crowd, while it also fit the direction of the Custom Telecaster,

guitar sound, and they certainly are, they also give the Telecaster

putting it in more traditional territory.

plenty of cutting power amid more distorted tones. Listen to two

(continued from page 166)

158 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 158 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 158

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 158

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

G.E. Smith

G.E. Smith Signature Telecaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

stratosphere. Hired as lead guitarist with Hall and Oates in 1979, he

T

toured the world with the band for the better part of six years and he archetypal “child prodigy” with a rock ’n’ roll twist, George

loaned his finely honed chops to major hits like “Kiss on My List,”

Edward Smith was born to play the guitar. He took it up at

“Private Eyes,” and “Maneater.” When the dust settled in the mid-

the age of four, and by the age of eleven he was playing a Fender

’80s, the guitarist was ready to put down roots in NYC even though

Telecaster made in his birth year, 1952, and making a decent

the heavy roadwork had long ago put a strain on his marriage. He

income playing with musicians far older than he. From this point on,

and Gilda Radner divorced in 1982.

schooling, for Smith, would be a mere footnote. Throughout his teens

In 1985 Smith was tapped to lead the house band for SNL and

Smith played in local bars, at high school dances, and in Poconos

remained in that position for ten years, backing an array of stars.

resorts near his Pennsylvania hometown before “graduating” to

For a large chunk of that stretch, Smith also took up duties as lead

near-instant success as an in-demand sideman. He would perhaps

guitarist with Bob Dylan, hitting the road with the iconic folk-rocker

become best known for his long run as leader of the house band on

who had been one of his first musical heroes. Post-1995, the gui-

NBC’s Saturday Night Live, and Smith brought a Tele on stage with

tarist continued to pursue a solo career that had begun with the

him for at least one number during every show in his ten-year run.

1982 album In the World, while collaborating and touring with sev-

After a stint with the Scratch Band, a fixture on the East Coast

eral other prominent artists. Through it all, he constantly returned

club scene in the mid-’70s, Smith was first picked up for Dan

to his Telecaster. In 2007, Fender honored his commitment to the

Hartman’s band (his initial Hartman gigs being a “lip-synch” tour

instrument by issuing the Artist Series G.E. Smith Telecaster, which

of Europe following Hartman’s 1977 hit “Instant Replay”). Then

is distinctive for its “chopped” bridge plate and a bridge pickup that

in 1979 he joined the band for SNL star Gilda Radner’s Gilda Live

is screwed directly into the wood at the bottom of the route—a

on Broadway. The move would prove significant both for personal

Smith modification—as well as carrying custom black-oval fin-

and professional reasons: not only would Smith make New York

gerboard markers. Of his lifelong love affair with his first 1952

City his adopted home, but he and Radner also became roman-

Telecaster, Smith told Fender.com, “It has absolutely shaped

tically involved and married in 1980. Shortly before that time,

my life into the person I am now. . . . I rode that Tele all over

however, Smith landed a gig that would catapult him into the rock

the world.”

G . E . S M I T H • 159

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 159 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 159

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 159

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Brent Mason For many years, Brent Mason’s go-to guitar was a ’68 Telecaster modified with a mini-humbucker in the neck position, a Seymour Duncan stacked Strat pickup added in the middle position, and a Seymour Duncan Tele pickup at the bridge. Frederick Breedon/Getty Images for ACM

Shania Twain, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, Merle Haggard, Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Toby Keith, Trisha Yearwood, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, George Jones, Randy Travis, Tim McGraw, and many, many others. Mason’s evocative licks can also be heard in the instrumental cues of the soundtrack to the TV show Friends, as well as on soundtracks for movies such as Bridget Jones’s Diary, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Home Alone, The Horse Whisperer, A Few Good Men, Something to Talk About, and many, many more. Mason was first turned on to the wonders of the guitar by his father’s copy of Jerry Reed’s Nashville Underground album, and his interest in country pickin’ was further fueled by the playing of Roy Nichols and other Tele stars. But he cites a broad collection of influences, from Larry Carlton to George Benson to Lenny Breau and Pat Martino, and this diversity comes through in his own playing.

T

he country scene was already thick with hot Tele players from

Mason headed south to Nashville from Ohio at the age of twenty-

Nashville to LA and back again by the time Brent Mason was

one and immediately set about trying to find his feet in Music City.

born in Van Wert, Ohio, in 1959. By the time he had reached early

Where thousands of others have failed, young Brent found steady

adulthood, however, Mason would virtually define the role of Tele-

and substantial success fairly early on. A regular gig at the famed

wielding session ace and add an entirely new dimension and diversity

local showcase the Stagecoach Lounge brought Mason in front of

to the “hot licks” ethos that defines so many players of Fender’s

the eyes and ears of artists such as Chet Atkins and George Benson,

seminal slab-bodied electric. Mason won a Grammy for Best Country

and by 1985 he was in the studio with both of these legendary

Instrumental Performance, was Nashville Music Awards Guitarist of

guitar stars. From that point onward, Mason’s status as a first-

the Year for 1995, was Country Music Association Musician of the Year

call Nashville session player—truly the first-call Nashville session

two years running, in 1997 and ’98, and was named the Academy

player—was secured.

of Country Music’s Guitarist of the Year a whopping fourteen times, including nine awards in a row from 1993 to 2001.

For many years Mason’s main guitar was a 1968 Fender Telecaster, which he had modified with a mini-humbucker in the

Through all the accolades, it can sometimes be easy to forget

neck position, an added Seymour Duncan stacked Stratocaster

the heart and soul beneath it all: The simple truth is, Brent Mason

pickup in the middle position, and a Seymour Duncan Telecaster

is a stunningly gifted guitarist, and his playing moves people in

pickup in the bridge position (a versatile configuration that is now

ways that makes them want to have him on their records, too. As

often referred to as a “Nashville Telecaster,” though often with a

such, in addition to catching the blinding licks and melodic sen-

standard T-style single-coil pickup in the neck position). In 2003,

sibilities on his own two solo outings—1997’s Hot Wired and

Valley Arts Guitars of California released a Brent Mason Signature

2006’s Smokin’ Section—he is in evidence on recordings by a

model, based on this ’68 Telecaster, which Mason has often played

veritable who’s who of country stars, including Willie Nelson,

since that time.

160 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 160 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 160

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 160

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Duke Levine Duke Levine picks his ’53 Telecaster.

Slaid Cleaves. Regardless, the Telecaster remains his go-to guitar. “A good Tele can be so huge and thick that people often don’t even think it sounds like a Tele, it’s got so much body to it. A Tele can do a Les Paul impersonation much more easily than a Les Paul can do a Tele impersonation.” While his changed-up ’63 is certainly a “good Tele,” Levine acquired a truly great Telecaster in the late ’90s, a 1953 black-guard Telecaster that would be many a picker’s dream guitar. He found it courtesy of his brother Buzzy Levine, the proprietor of Lark Street Music in Tea Neck, New Jersey. “I wasn’t even looking for one, because even then they were outrageously expensive,” Levine relates, “but Buzzy had

A

lthough he has toured widely, Duke Levine is known as a

gotten it in and I happened to be in his store one day. He said, ‘Oh,

fixture on a music scene less associated with hardcore twang

you should play this guitar!’ ’Cos I had never even really played one.

than it is with either acoustic folk music or alternative rock. Born in

. . . I played this ’53 Telecaster—it hardly had any frets left on it, and

Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1961, Levine has called Boston home

I don’t even think the ones that were there were original—and I was

for many years, and for the past twenty or so of those, has been

like, ‘Wow, I’ve never heard a Telecaster that sounded like that!’ It

known as Bean Town’s first-call Tele ace. Like many Tele diehards,

was just eye-opening.”

Levine wasn’t necessarily born to the plank, but played a range

As much as he can tear it up when called to do so, the guitarist

of other guitars before being inexorably drawn to this addictive

says he has been getting back to the purity and simplicity heard in

instrument. “The first Tele I ever got I still have,” he told the author

the work of many of the formative country and Western Swing play-

in 2011. “I was playing a Strat at the time. . . I guess I just kind of

ers. “I always loved the honky-tonk stuff, especially the Bakersfield

wanted one, and I found one in a local shop, the ’63 Tele that I still

stuff, Merle [Haggard] and Buck [Owens], and it’s kind of where I

play sometimes. It was really nothing special, only the body and

was coming from when I started to get into playing more country

neck were original. . . . I was playing both guitars for a while, and I

guitar. Lately, though, I’ve been listening to steel players more than

just gravitated more and more toward playing the Tele all the time.”

just Tele players,” Levine says. “Lately I’ve been digging just going

While Levine’s core style encompasses the blend of country,

back and listening to old Ralph Mooney and Tom Brumley and all

blues, jazz, and rock ’n’ roll that seems to be definitive for so many

that stuff, and really they all kind of played simpler back then any-

hot-licks Telecaster slingers, the demands of session work and

way. . . . I think the ‘chops’ thing has almost gotten out of control.

live performance require him to turn his hand to a little bit of just

I mean, obviously Gatton and Buchanan were at the beginning of

about anything, whether it’s taking the stage with Bono, Yo-Yo Ma,

when it all got supercharged, but in the ’60s it was often so sim-

and the Boston Pops; cutting scores for films like The Opposite of

ple and beautiful—it’s easy to hear what they were doing, and

Sex and Lone Star; or recording or touring with anyone from Aimee

there are plenty of beautiful, simple ideas you can grasp on

Mann to John Gorka to Bill Morrissey to Mary Chapin Carpenter to

to.” Bean Towner or not, the Bakersfield boys would be proud.

D U K E L E V I N E • 161

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 161 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 161

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 161

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Frank Black (a.k.a.) Black Francis Frank Black used a range of Telecasters to help forge the loud/quiet/loud aesthetic, both with the Pixies and as a solo artist. Here, he performs with the Pixies at the Avalon in Boston in December 2004. Evan Richman/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

A

s the former (and occasionally reunited) leader of indie-rockers

Through five critically acclaimed Pixies studio albums—from

the Pixies, Frank Black has rarely played it straight—whether

the 1987 debut Come on Pilgrim to the 1991 swan song Trompe le

we’re talking chord changes, song arrangements, or personal

Monde—Black made the Fender Telecaster his weapon of choice.

identity. Born Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV in Boston,

While he played a range of models, from reissue-styled Teles to

Massachusetts, in 1965, the guitarist was raised in California and

more contemporary designs, Black’s main guitar in the Pixies was

other parts west as first his father, then stepfather, relocated for

often a Fender Contemporary Telecaster, or one of several, that he

work. Still known as Charles upon his return to Massachusetts

purchased in the late ’80s. Made in Japan in the mid-’80s, this

during his senior year in high school and his enrollment at the

model had two humbucking pickups (one humbucker and two sin-

University of Massachusetts, Amherst, a year later, Thompson’s

gle coils optional) and a Floyd Rose–style vibrato unit, which Black

roommate in the second semester of his freshman year was Joey

largely ignored. Beginning in the late ’80s, he gradually but steadily

Santiago, who shared his interest in punk rock and guitar. Upon

modified his contemporary Teles to be somewhat more traditional.

graduating from UMASS in 1986, the pair decided to form a band:

He removed the arms from the vibrato units but still used them at

an ad in the Boston press for bandmates with “Hüsker Dü and

times in his playing, slipping his fingers under the bridge plate to lift

Peter, Paul, and Mary influences” yielded bassist and backing

it and send the string flat, or depressing the entire thing backward

vocalist Kim Deal, who brought in Dave Lovering on drums.

with his palm to raise their pitch.

Santiago stabbed his finger at random into a dictionary to

Upon going solo in the early ’90s, Black changed his name

give the outfit a name, Thompson selected the stage name

again from Black Francis to Frank Black. The contemporary

Black Francis, and the Pixies were born.

Telecaster stayed with him, but later he also played original 1968

162 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 162 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 162

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 162

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

and ’70 Telecasters, which were purportedly among the haul when

fittingly quirky, often surreal lyrics informed both by the evangeli-

a trailer containing all of the gear for his band, the Catholics, was

cal church-going experiences of his early teens and by his stint as

stolen from a parking lot near the Philadelphia Airport in 2001.

an exchange-student in Puerto Rico.

He also used Fender’s Mexican-made Roadworn Telecaster, a preaged vintage-style guitar.

Even so, Black doesn’t consider his work—with the Pixies or after—to be particularly far out of the mainstream, for all his acclaim

The Pixies’ sound might widely be thought of as “heavy”—in

as a trendsetter. “I was only ever trying to write pop songs,” he

places, at least, given the loud/quiet/loud ethos that they helped to

told the author in 1993, upon the release of his eponymous debut

coin, and which bands like Nirvana carried into the end zone after

solo album. “Somehow, things always just came out that way.” In

their demise—but, while Santiago’s Les Paul-into-Marshalls rig

2009 he told Flavorwire, “I take to heart what Iggy Pop says, ‘It’s

certainly provided some characteristic wail to the arrangements,

all disco.’ And, to a certain extent, it is. When you think about how

Black’s Telecaster tone was more often a big, bold kerrang rather

classical music, over the decades and centuries, has changed . . .

than a stereotypical rock crunch. In truth, the band’s sound as a

when you think about how much rock and roll has changed in fifty

whole was inseparably defined by both players: Black’s chunky,

years. . . . But from another perspective, things haven’t changed

driving rhythm work, and Santiago’s screaming, often dissonant

that much. We’re talking about a backbeat. We’re talking about a

leads and fills. And, of course, the nature of the songwriting itself

three-minute pop song. Verses and choruses. There’s a lot more

contributed largely to the Pixies’ distinctive sound. As the main

similarity in all these so-called genres than there are differences,

songwriter, Black was—and remains—fond of unconventional

I think.” If, as Black asserts, the music hasn’t changed much,

chord changes that somehow sound natural in context, while

why should that plank-bodied electric guitar upon which so many

continually piquing the listener’s interest. These are dressed with

players chose to make it change either?

F R A N K B L A C K • 163

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 163 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 163

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 163

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke Jonny Greenwood often plays one of a couple of Telecaster Plus models outfitted with active LaceSensor pickups—a single unit at the neck and two at the bridge wired as a humbucker—and a contemporary six-saddle bridge. Paul Bergen/ Redferns/Getty Images

A

lthough the band’s breakthrough 1992 hit “Creep” might

On a Friday after their habitual rehearsal day. Eventual lead guitar-

have pegged them as just another loud-quiet-loud alt-rock

ist Jonny Greenwood, younger brother of bassist Colin Greenwood,

outfit in the footsteps of the Pixies and Nirvana, Radiohead has

initially tagged along on harmonica, then keyboards, before find-

forged a reputation as one of the more creative and independent-

ing his niche as a six-string noise monger. The five (including Phil

minded bands working in popular music in the past couple of

Selway on drums) kept the unit together through university and

decades. And while the band’s sound certainly leans on an artistic

gained attention from the British record industry as their live per-

use of effects pedals, in addition to the sheer originality of their

formances ramped up shortly after. Upon signing to EMI in 1991,

playing, guitarists Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke accomplish

the band changed its name to Radiohead, at the label’s request, and

most of their avant-garde antics on a range of Fender Telecasters.

released its first EP, Drill, the following year. Although this release

Alongside them, partner-in-crime Ed O’Brien—although he often

garnered little attention, the single “Creep” that followed it proved

plays Rickenbackers, Stratocasters, and a Gibson ES-330 and

a slow-grower that would eventually be a massive hit, and the

ES-335—has also turned to a pair of Teles over the years.

band’s debut full-length album, Pablo Honey, released the year after

The band that would become Radiohead was formed in

that, firmly established their status as an indie band worth watch-

1985 by a group of pals at the Abingdon School, a private

ing. In the few years following this early semi-success, however,

boy’s school in Oxfordshire, England, who called themselves

Radiohead evolved into the band that most fans know it to be today.

164 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 164 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 164

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 164

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Thom Yorke, seen here in 1998, has long been fond of Telecaster Deluxes and Customs. Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images

Telecaster Plus was never designed for the vintage purist, but scream, wail, throb, roar, and moan it will, especially when rammed through the Marshall Shred Master distortion pedal, ProCo Rat, Boss SD-1 Super Distortion, a DigiTech WH-1 Whammy, Disenchanted with the commerciality of the industry, Radiohead

a DIY tremolo pedal, a DOD Envelope Filter, an

honed its sound. What eventually emerged on The Bends in 1995,

Electro-Harmonix Small Stone phase shifter, a Roland Space Echo,

and virtually every Radiohead release since, was a collage of dense

Mutronics Mutator, and other pedals that Greenwood turns to for his

soundscapes built of trenchant lyrics, soaring melodies, and atmo-

aural hijinks.

spheric and even experimental instrumentation, all dressed in the guise of “traditional” guitar rock.

Thom Yorke has long been fond of 1970s Telecaster Deluxes and Customs, as well as other customized Teles and a Fender

Perhaps the more extreme sonic sculptor of the band, Greenwood

Jazzmaster. Lead vocal duties, however, keep him from indulging

often plays one of a couple of Fender Telecaster Plus models, offer-

in the same kind of sonic mayhem as Greenwood and O’Brien, and

ings from the late ’80s and early ’90s that never really caught fire

he typically just runs through a pair of ProCo Rat distortion pedals

with the playing public at large, and are therefore unlikely “star gui-

and a Boss DD3 Digital Delay for a little echo. A far, far cry from

tars” in the grand scheme of things. They have active Lace-Sensor

Luther Perkins’s low-string twang on a ’50s Esquire, Radiohead’s

pickups, which are both low-noise and high-output, with a single

sound—for all the electronic assistance—is still rooted in the purity

unit at the neck and two at the bridge wired as a humbucker (with

and simplicity of the Telecaster, and perhaps inspired by the down-

coil-splitting capabilities), and a contemporary six-saddle bridge,

to-earth workingman’s tool that this guitar was designed to be in

as well as several modifications on Greenwood’s own guitars. The

the first place.

J O N N Y G R E E N W O O D A N D T H O M Y O R K E • 165

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 165 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 165

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 165

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

(continued from page 158) Neck and Headstock Hardware and Appointments With no binding, no headstock overlay, and only simple dot inlays in the fingerboard, there isn’t much else to speak of in regards to the simple Telecaster neck, although the nut, string retainer, and tuners still deserve a mention. Leo Fender used a bone nut from the start of the production, and this component is one of the guitar’s few nods to tradition. Bone is known for its resonance and sustain-enhancing properties, and makes an excellent neck-end termination point for the strings’ speaking length. As an organic material, it isn’t as consistent from one blank to the other as contemporary synthetic nut blanks made from Micarta or Corian might be. The guitar-maker can encounter tiny air bubbles in this finely porous material that will lead to minor irregularities, and, therefore, slight changes in performance from one nut to the other. On the whole, though, it is a tone-enhancing component nevertheless, does its job very well, and can even be impressively long-lasting. First up beyond the nut is the string retainer, which changed both in type and position through the course of the early to mid-’50s. From the introduction of the Esquire and Broadcaster in 1950 until 1955, the guitars had a single round metal string retainer with slots in the underside, attached to the headstock by a single screw and positioned just south of the G-string tuner post. For ease of manufacture, Fender necks are created without the back-angled headstocks that many others use to create adequate string pressure in the nut slots. Necks are carved so that the headstock sits on a slightly lower plane than the fingerboard, so the break angle from the nut down to the first few tuner posts is entirely adequate, but the B and high-E strings in particular (the only unwound strings when the guitar was introduced) have to make a much longer journey to their tuner posts. The retainer can be pulled down on the B and E strings slightly to produce adequate pressure in the nut slots and help prevent a droning ring from the dead lengths of these strings between nut and tuner posts. Apparently it didn’t provide quite enough pressure, though; after 1955 the retainer position was moved closer to the nut, to approximately adjacent the A-string tuner post, at which time

166 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 166 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 166

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 166

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1968 Telecaster. Doug Youland, Willie’s American Guitars

it was also changed to a thin, bent-metal “butterfly” clip. The change of retainer position also necessitated a change of position for the Fender and model logos, which were positioned to the nut side of the retainer pre-’55, and beyond the retainer after. With this single string retainer in place, helping to tension the two thinner strings on the guitar, the move to a thinner unwound G later in the ’60s often left that string ringing between nut and tuner in an undesirable manner that can sometimes be heard through the pickup. To combat this, many players wind the G string further down the tuner post (that is, put more wraps around the post when stringing up) to increase the pressure from nut slot to tuner. Many later Telecaster models from the early ’70s onward carried two “butterfly” retainer clips to achieve the same result. The asymmetrical, six-in-line headstock design is another visual characteristic of the Telecaster, and of all classic Fender guitars. As discussed in History of the Telecaster, it has performance benefits in addition to creating a distinctive style for the model. Fender’s headstock design enables a straight line for each string from nut slot to tuner post, and, therefore, resists the tuning instabilities that can occur when strings stick or hitch in nut slots from which they must break at angles out toward their respective tuners on wider headstocks, such as those used by Gibson, Gretsch, Epiphone, Rickenbacker, and many others. Simple, elegant, and stylish, the characteristic Fender headstock is also therefore extremely functional. The Kluson tuners loaded onto pre-CBS Telecasters are another part of their classic vibe, and many players and makers will tell you that they have a slightly different “sound” than the heavier replacements by Schaller or Grover that some players added to their guitars, but this ingredient is rather minimal from the sonic perspective. The design of these tuners’ back covers changed very slightly over the years, namely in how the brand name was stamped into these gear covers, from a single-line “Kluson Deluxe” to no line (no brand stamp), back to single line, and finally double line—with “Kluson” and “Deluxe” stamped on opposing edges of the cover—by the mid-1960s. In 1967 the Kluson tuners were dropped in favor of Schaller tuners that were made in West Germany to Fender’s own design and stamped with the new, thicker “F” of the Fender logo.

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 167

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 167 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 167

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 167

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Bridge Assembly

take that plate away and just use a Strat bridge, or put a Telecaster

Of all the hardware components mounted to the guitar, the

bridge pickup on a Strat, and it doesn’t sound like a Tele.”

bridge truly makes a Tele what it is. Build a guitar that is

Mike Eldred, director of marketing for Fender’s Custom Shop,

otherwise like a Telecaster, but give it a different bridge and

concurs with the importance of the entire Tele bridge/pickup unit.

tail-piece—a Gibson-style tune-o-matic or wraparound bridge,

“There are so many variables on that pickup, and they all add up,”

for example—and its tone and response will be altered out of

Eldred says. “With the plate on the bottom, and with the whole

the realm of Teledom.

thing screwed into the bridge plate, you have put some major vari-

The Telecaster’s bridge and bridge-mounted pickup really

ables in there. But with a Strat pickup, it’s mounted on a plastic

should be examined as an integral unit, although the pickup’s

pickguard; if I change that plastic and I use phenolic or nitrocellu-

own make-up and electronic specifications will be explored in

lose or vinyl, it’s not going to change that pickup much. But man,

their own right in the section that follows. Regardless, in addition

you take a Telecaster pickup with that plate that’s already on the

to the construction of the bridge and the pickup as independent,

bottom of it, and now you have machine screws that screw into

stand-alone components, their union in the marriage of ingredi-

that through a bridge plate, and now say I go punch that bridge

ents that make up this guitar as a whole has an effect on the tone

plate out of nickel silver, or I punch it out of brass . . . it’s a totally

that takes them beyond the contribution of either as an individ-

different sound, completely different.”

ual. In fact, ask either a hard-core Telecaster player or a maker

The way in which the base plate is mounted to the guitar

of original or reproduction Tele-style guitars, and they will be

affects the sound in a degree that is, perhaps, as significant as

hard-pressed to discuss either the bridge or bridge pickup entirely

the way in which the pickup is mounted into the plate. Attached

independently of one another.

by four screws drilled through holes near the back edge only,

“I think, as a rule,” says Redd Volkaert, “just the Telecaster

between the saddles and the string holes, the plate thus remains

system of the bridge pan and the bridge pickup, that combination

“semi-floating,” and therefore prone to micro-phonics that leak

makes for a really barky cutting-through-the-band-mix, kind of a

into the pickup through its mounting bolts while also enhanc-

high-mid sparkly sort of sound, that a Strat doesn’t give with the

ing the acoustic ring of the strings. Given that the bridge-saddle

pickup hangin’ off the pickguard, danglin’ in a hole, suspended.

adjustment screws make direct contact with this plate and trans-

Part of a Strat’s sound too, I think, is the springs in the back hole

fer the strings’ vibrational energy directly into it, we can think of

of the one with the tremolo, the harmonics and the noise and the

it almost as a small, steel banjo head, or the volume-enhancing

little rattley clangy midrange thing you get out of that chamber,

aluminum cone of a resonator guitar, and as such it adds a little

that adds to the sound of a Stratocaster. As the bridge-plate pan

extra ring into the pickup and the sound of the guitar as a whole

of a Telecaster does. A lot of ’em, when you turn the amp up

(the source of Volkaert’s “doot, doot, doot”).

really loud, you can tap on the bridge pan with your fingernails

The Tele bridge was derived from Fender’s lap-steel guitar

and you can hear where all the midrange comes from. It goes

bridges, which themselves were devised from two perspectives:

“doot, doot, doot” [imitates microphonic honk], you know, that

first, as a means of providing a solid body-end anchor point for

really dorky kind of sound. But when you’re playing that adds to

the strings, and second, as a means of mounting the pickup. We

the really hollow kind of jangliness that only that bridge pickup

tend to think of the traditional Telecaster bridge as being the

combination on the Telecaster can give.”

integral unit of the stamped-steel bridge plate and three brass

Pickup maker Jason Lollar is happy to dissect this component

or steel saddles, but viewed from the perspective of Fender’s

in a little more detail: “The bottom plate of the pickup being metal

original intentions for it, we might more accurately see it as a

makes a very subtle difference, but that bridge, that’s where you

stamped-steel pickup-mounting plate, upon which the three

get a 15 to 20 percent boost in volume, midrange, and bass. You

bridge saddles conveniently rest. However you tackle them,

168 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 168 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 168

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 168

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

though, these components work together to create a substantial

strings can be set by the intonation bolt that runs from the center

part of that hallowed Tele magic.

of each saddle to the back lip of the base plate.

Atop the punched-out steel base plate rest three bridge sad-

From 1954 onward, by standards set by both Gibson’s tune-

dles that handle two strings each in their duty of determining the

o-matic bridge and Fender’s own Stratocaster bridge, the Tele’s

body-end termination of the strings’ speaking length. One classic

intonation adjustment would perhaps seem rather crude, but

ingredient of early ’50s Broadcasters, Esquires, and Telecasters is

most players find it’s still “good enough for rock ’n’ roll” regard-

the brass bridge saddles that were replaced by steel late in 1954

less—or find ways of improving upon it. One common old fix

(although many of the earlier pre-production guitars were also

was to bend the adjustment bolt to angle the saddle and put each

made with steel saddles, albeit of a slightly larger diameter than

of its ends (and hence each of the two string break points) at a

those brought back in the mid-’50s). Brass saddles are generally

slightly different position. A better engineered, and perhaps more

rather warm and rich sounding, with good sustain and plenty

obvious, solution came in the form of the six-saddle bridge that

of bite. The smooth steel saddles of late 1954 to ’58 are often

Fender introduced to the Custom Telecaster in the mid-’70s and

considered to be a bit sharper sounding, perhaps more archetypal

offered as a replacement part, which many players added to their

“twang,” while the threaded saddles that replaced these in mid-

three-saddle Teles. Splitting the saddle duties from three to six

’58 arguably brought a little more “zing” to the Tele tone.

produced an arrangement with more moving parts, less mass to

In addition to their tonal contribution, the three-saddle

the saddles, and a little less solidity overall, and many players

configuration has major implications for string height and into-

swear that a six-saddle bridge just doesn’t sound the same as a tra-

nation adjustment. As difficult as it might be to believe today, at

ditional three-saddle version. Several parts manufacturers today

the time of this bridge’s introduction in 1950, these were perhaps

offer vintage-style saddle sets with adjustment-bolt holes that are

the most easily adjustable saddles available on a production gui-

drilled at a calculated angle, to yield more precise intonation for

tar. The height of each individual string can easily be adjusted

individual strings without resorting to the old “bend it with the

by raising or lowering the saddle at the grub screw at each of its

pliers” technique.

outer ends, while a “best compromise” intonation for each of two

(continued on page 172)

Bridge assembly and pickup on a 1968 Telecaster in a rare Teal Green custom color. Doug Youland, Willie’s American Guitars

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 169

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 169 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 169

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 169

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Graham Coxon

Graham Coxon’s main guitar has most often been a ’50s Reissue in Butterscotch Blonde from the late 1980s. He’s seen here performing in Leicester, England, on August 12, 2011. Kate Booker/Redferns/Getty Images

Graham Coxon Signature Telecaster, released 2011. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

R

anked at No. 15 in a 2010 BBC poll of the greatest guitarists of the past thirty years, Graham Coxon’s guitar

to have returned to the fold after seeking treat-

work lent a driving energy and an unfettered musicality to the

ment for alcoholism in 2001. Though he had already

music of Blur. And, for the majority of his time with the band, he

made three well-received solo albums during his time with Blur, his

was seen sporting a good old blonde Fender Telecaster, an implied

status as an artist in his own right grew considerably following his

endorsement that undoubtedly helped to give the seminal solid-

departure from the band. One album after another, including 2006’s

body electric a new edge of cool on the British indie-rock scene.

epic double-live set Burnt to Bitz: At the Astoria and 2009’s acoustic

Formed in London in 1989, Blur was one of the dual epicenters of the U.K.’s Brit-pop scene in the early ’90s—alongside sometime

concept album The Spinning Top, reveal a guitarist and songwriter at the top of his creative game.

rivals Oasis—and scored big with a succession of hit albums, includ-

With a chameleon-like style that is difficult to pin down, Coxon’s

ing 1994’s Parklife. By the mid-’90s, the band was about as big as

guitar playing has been vociferously praised by fellow musicians

it gets for British indie-rock, until 1997’s Blur and its single “Song

Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, Noel Gallagher of Oasis, and band-

2” with its infectious “woo-hoo” chorus took them to new heights

mate Damon Albarn of Blur, and has clearly inspired a new generation

around the world. The follow-up, 1999’s 13, was a dense, often

of Tele players. He hops nimbly from jangly pop to driving crunch-

somewhat rambling (if engagingly so) affair in which Coxon indulged

rock, from adventurous and folk-tinged chord shapes to noise-art

the greater breadth of his musical imagination. The album also

and atmospherics, and all the while sounds simply like Graham

signaled the early crumbling of Blur as an entity, with individual

Coxon. He has owned and played several Telecasters, but his main

members, Coxon among them, undertaking solo projects during

squeeze was most often a ’50s reissue model in Butterscotch Blonde

the extended break that followed the album’s promotional tour.

from the late ’80s. Fender’s Graham Coxon Telecaster of 2011 was,

In 2002 Coxon left the band officially, but other than the

however, a late-’60s remake with rosewood fingerboard, tortoise-

sporadic reunions from 2009 onward, he seems never really

shell pickguard, and a humbucking pickup in the neck position.

170 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 170 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 170

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 170

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

John 5 John 5 is known for modified Telecasters that have inspired two Custom Shop numbers, including this one with a stacked humbucker at the bridge, Fender’s Twisted Telecaster at the neck, and a Bigsby-licensed tailpiece. Robert Knight Archive/Redferns/Getty Images

John 5 Signature Telecaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

persona of a successful industrial-metal artist. In 2004, John 5 left Marilyn Manson and recorded his first solo album, Vertigo, then formed the band Loser. A year later, he

T

signed on as guitarist for Rob Zombie, a gig he retains at the aking the Telecaster 180 degrees from its straight-on

time of writing.

country roots, John 5 was originally inspired to play the

While he can shred right alongside the best rock players

guitar at the age of seven while watching Buck Owens play his

working today, John 5’s playing is still, perhaps, distinguished

Fender on the TV show Hee Haw. While he is now known for some

most by his incorporation of the kind of country playing that

of the most blistering rock shred ever performed on a Tele, he can

first turned him on to the guitar. “I love Jimmy Bryant and I

still burn up the fretboard with country-style picking. Born John

love Albert Lee,” John 5 told MusicRadar in 2001. “Roy Clark.

Lowery in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, in 1971, John 5 was another

Chet Atkins. I love those pickers. That’s a whole other world. It’s

teen prodigy who used his Tele to make a good living even before

shredding; it’s fast; it’s tough to do. I like a challenge.”

he was old enough to legally patronize the establishments in which he earned his pay. John 5 headed west to LA

Although he has occasionally picked up a “plain old Telecaster,” John 5 is particularly known for the

upon turning eighteen and quickly established

modified guitars that have inspired his sig-

himself as a session ace and sideman.

nature models. Two Fender Custom Shop J5

Prior to earning his first jump to fame in

Telecasters have been issued, with a high-out-

1998 as the guitarist with Marilyn Manson—who

put bridge humbucker and single-coil neck, and

converted John Lowery to John 5—the young

two single coils respectively, the latter with Bigsby

gun recorded and performed with Lita Ford,

vibrato tailpiece. The Squier J5 Telecaster dou-

k.d. lang, Rob Halford, and David Lee Roth,

bles the humbucker content, putting them

and played extensively on TV and movie

in both positions, while the J5 Triple Tele

soundtracks with producer Bob Marlette. The

Deluxe revives the Strat-style vibrato

Manson gig, however, launched him into the

bridge of the ’70s Telecaster Deluxe,

spotlight and gave John 5 a larger-than-life

but with three Wide Range humbuckers.

J O H N 5 • 17 1

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 171 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 171

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 171

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

(continued from page 169)

Jaguar, and Mustang vibratos with their separate rocking bridges.

It’s worth remembering that Leo Fender really didn’t design

Other than those on the “top loader” guitars of late 1958 to late

the Telecaster bridge to be seen, so he can be excused for the

’59, the bridges used on classic Esquires and Telecasters aren’t

rather industrial look of this component when left uncovered.

really either/or, but something rather different. They include no

As witnessed in early promotional literature, the unit was to

tailpiece as such, the strings instead anchoring in steel ferules set

have exhibited a minimalist elegance, appearing only as a shapely

into the back of the guitar, from which they pass through six

chrome cover from which the strings emerged on their journey

individual holes drilled through the body and on through six

from the unseen bridge saddles. Designed both as a cover and a

holes in the base plate behind the saddles.

right-hand rest for picking, this detachable part was rarely left

If a guitar maker’s goal with this hardware was to achieve a

in place by the guitarist, who usually found that playing with-

solid body-end anchor point for the strings, well, it doesn’t get

out them offered more versatility. Without the cover, a player

much more solid than Fender’s strings-through-body design.

could easily dampen or mute strings by resting the edge of the

The ferrules, which are like small steel cups, provide an immov-

palm against the front of the saddles, producing bold, bright

able seating for the strings’ ball-ends, and, therefore, aid tuning

tones when picking right above the pickup or close to the sad-

stability in their resistance to movement, particularly when com-

dles, and so forth. The “ashtray,” as its alternative use inevitably

pared to the old trapeze tailpieces that most other electric guitars

dubbed it, was nevertheless a part of the original conception of

carried in the late ’40s to early ’50s. Perhaps more significant,

the Telecaster, and remained in production until 1983.

though, is this design’s enhancement to resonance and sustain.

Any discussion of a guitar’s bridge must include consideration

The through-body stringing works in partnership with the base

of the tailpiece that partners it. Some designs, such as Gibson’s

plate and bridge saddles to create a solid string anchor, a severe

simple “wraparound” bridge or Fender’s Stratocaster bridge, are

break angle over the saddles, and therefore, optimum downward

integral, in that the string anchor points and bridge saddles all

pressure of strings upon saddles, all resulting in a clear, ringing,

occur as part of the same unit. Others require entirely separate

piano-like tone. Telecasters are sometimes thought of as guitars

anchoring hardware, as do Gibson’s tune-o-matic bridge with

that “don’t have a lot of sustain,” but this misconception usu-

“trapeze” or “stopbar” tailpiece, or Fender’s own Jazzmaster,

ally has more to do with their single-coil pickups, and the fact

Neck pickup on a 1956 Telecaster. Guitar courtesy of Elderly Instruments, photo Dave Matchette

172 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 172 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 172

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 172

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

that they are more often (if not always) played through cleaner

All in all, it is a fairly simple and efficient construction, and it

amps that don’t generate much sustain-inducing feedback. Pick

produces a tone that stabs straight at the heart of what Leo Fender

up a good Tele with solid hardware and a tight neck joint, and,

was hoping to achieve. The narrow coil enhances a narrow mag-

entirely unplugged, pick that open low-E string and check how

netic field—think of it as a “string-sensing window”—that keeps

long it rings. Put your ear to the body edge, and it might surprise

the signal tight and focused, which works toward both firm lows

you how long the note sustains.

and pronounced highs. Using magnetic pole pieces within the coil also helps to emphasize clarity and articulation.

Pickups

Fender’s design meant that the pole pieces on the Tele pickup

Any electric guitar’s pickups form an enormous part of its charac-

were nonadjustable, although the pickup’s overall height could

ter, but the Telecaster’s two pickups are arguably more intimately

be raised and lowered by the three mounting screws: two behind,

entwined with the guitar’s voice and character than most. And

and one in front. For the first five years of production, the pole

unlike several other pickup types—Fender’s own Stratocaster,

pieces were loaded flush to the top of the pickup’s top plate. After

Jaguar, or Jazzmaster pickups; Gibson’s humbucker or P-90;

late 1955, longer segments were used for the D and G pole pieces,

Gretsch’s Filter’Tron or DeArmond 200—the Telecaster pickup

bringing these closer to their strings to compensate for the lower

set comprises two distinctly different units. They are both narrow

output of these thinner wound strings. At the time, a wound G

single-coil pickups, with individual magnetic pole pieces slotted

string was still common, meaning this one was often the weakest

within the coil, but beyond that they are dissimilar. Both of the

of the six, all else being equal. When unwound G strings came

pickups that Fender would use on the Telecaster had evolved

into use in the late ’60s (or earlier if you were James Burton and

from units used on the young company’s steel guitars, and had

put banjo strings on your guitar for easy bending), the G was

already proved themselves in that capacity.

suddenly the thickest of the plain strings, and could really boom

Other than a few early variables that will be acknowledged

out through that high pole piece.

below, the classic Telecaster bridge pickup is made with approx-

The outward design of the Telecaster pickup might seem very

imately 9,200 turns of 42-gauge plain-enamel-coated wire

much like that of the Stratocaster pickup that would follow it

wound in a relatively narrow coil around six individual Alnico V

four years later, other than in the way it is mounted into the

rod magnets that constitute its pole pieces. Winding machines

bridge, which, as we have already acknowledged, also plays its

were hand-operated, rather than automated, so the number

part in shaping the guitar’s tone. There are, however, several sub-

of turns of wire on any pre-CBS pickup—and earlier units in

tle differences that make it very different from the Strat pickup,

particular—could vary greatly. The final DC resistance of most

and any experienced player will tell you that the magic often lies

bridge pickups fell within the 6.8k ohms to 7.8k ohms range,

in those subtle differences. “They are so different,” agrees Fender’s

although some particularly overwound vintage pickups soared

Mike Eldred. “The bridge pickup on a Telecaster sounds like no

to well above this. The pickup has no “bobbin” as such, in the

other bridge pickup. You just look at the construction of that

way that a Gibson-style humbucker or P-90 does, but instead it

pickup: the bobbin is squatter, there’s a larger area to put more

has a pair of fiber top and bottom plates that hold the magnets

wire on that thing, and then you add that plate on the bottom.

in place and provide protection for the coil wire, which is wound

There are so many variables on that pickup, and they all add up.”

directly around the magnets after a thin layer of insulating tape

Pickup maker Lindy Fralin, who is known for his vintage-style

is wrapped around them. Finally, a copper-plated tin base plate

Tele and Stat pickups, as well as a range of other types, has put

is attached to the bottom of the pickup, through which the three

plenty of thought into the role of the plate attached to the under-

mounting bolts inserted through holes in the bridge’s base plate

side of the Telecaster bridge pickup, and even offers them on

are threaded.

his Strat-style replacement pickups. He emphasizes, in fact, that

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 173

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 173 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 173

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 173

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

there really is no such thing as “a Telecaster pickup” independent

pickups in terms of tone. A greater number of turns of slightly

of its bridge—that the base plate, bridge plate, and the pickup

thicker wire gives the bridge pickup a fatter, meatier tone with

itself all work together to do what they do so well. “You’ve got a

slightly greater output (in most instances, at least), though its

piece of steel under the pickup, and a piece of steel around the

positioning means it is still brighter than the neck pickup, which

pickup. Both of those focus the magnetic field in a positive way,

tends to sound a little weaker thanks to its smaller coil size.

to get the most output out of that coil. So they really seem louder than the same number of turns on a Strat pickup.”

The neck pickup doesn’t benefit from the bridge pickup’s very interactive mounting arrangement either, but rather than

Given that the body size and density and the neck woods and

being suspended from a plastic pickguard like the Strat pickup,

construction are all really very similar between a ’50s Telecaster

it is mounted into the wood of the body, which in turn adds

and an ash-bodied, maple-necked Stratocaster, the pickup and

some depth and woodiness to its tone. While some players have

bridge assembly are clearly two of the main reasons for their con-

been frustrated by the underwhelming tone from the Tele neck

siderable difference in tone. Thick, meaty, and muscular, yet still

pickup, as compared to the roaring, twanging beast of a bridge

clear and twangy, the archetypal Tele bridge-pickup tone simply

pickup (or many Strat neck pickups), the better ones can sound

can’t be reproduced on a standard Stratocaster’s bridge pickup—a

outstanding: warm, woody, thick, and rich. “If you looked up the

state of affairs that has sent thousands of Strat players in search of

definition of electric guitar,” says guitarist Jim Campilongo, “the

tweaks to correct that disparity, once they have experienced that

neck position would be that. Like, it just sounds like an acoustic

thick Tele goodness.

guitar that’s amplified. It’s really beautifully organic.”

By the same token, however, many players will tell you that

The bridge pickups mounted into single-pickup pre-

the Strat’s hallowed neck-pickup tone simply can’t be reproduced

CBS Esquires are often ascribed some sonic magic by players,

on a Telecaster’s neck pickup, although a great Tele neck pickup

although there’s nothing to suggest that these pickups were any

can sound outstanding in its own right.

different from those mounted into the Telecasters that came off

The neck pickup is different from the Tele bridge pickup in

the line at the same time, and they were most likely taken from

several subtle but significant ways. Most notable of these are its

batches wound side by side without regard to whether they were

smaller size, and the metal cover that conceals its pole pieces. The

“Telecaster” or “Esquire” pickups. Other very real differences

poles are similar Alnico rod magnets, but the smaller coil is able

between the Telecaster and Esquire, however, might indeed give

to hold less wire than its partner at the bridge position. Both neck

the latter more perceived tonal girth in the bridge position.

and bridge pickups were originally wound with 43-gauge wire—

First, although Esquires were made with Telecaster bodies

this being one of the above-mentioned differences in the very

and include a neck-position pickup route that simply was never

early Esquire/Broadcaster bridge pickups, along with the zinc

filled, the absence of that pickup—and its magnets, in partic-

(rather than tin, then steel) base plate beneath it. When bridge

ular—meant that the strings were allowed to ring more freely

pickup windings changed to 42-gauge wire very early in the

near the maximum point of their vibrational arc, without the

life of the guitar, the neck pickup continued to be wound with

magnets imposing their slight drag upon them. Many players will

43-gauge stock. The thinner the wire, the more you can pack

tell you that an Esquire rings more loudly as a result, and that the

onto the coil, and this finer gauge gives Telecaster neck pickups

extra energy is taken into the pickup and transmitted on to the

an average resistance reading somewhere around 7.5k ohms or a

amplifier.

little higher, which often gives the impression, on paper, that they

Second, the Esquire’s different wiring configuration includes

are “hotter” than their counterparts in the bridge. Since any such

a rear-pointing switch position that bypasses the tone control in

specs aren’t comparing like for like, however, they don’t present

routing the volume control’s output to the jack, and that results

an accurate account of what we can expect from these different

in a slightly bolder signal than anything present on a Telecaster,

174 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 174 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 174

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 174

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

all else being equal. Although they lack the added options that a neck pickup brings (and most players consider the forwardpointing switch position’s preset “bassy” sound nearly useless), good Esquires can be powerful performers, and surprisingly versatile despite their simplicity. It’s notable that most other significant guitar makers sought to progress from single-coil to humbucker in their quest for the achievement of the “ideal,” whereas Fender’s single-coil tone set a benchmark that really didn’t need to be bettered. The Wide Range Humbucking Pickup developed by Seth Lover for Fender in 1970 was never really a replacement for the Tele’s single-coil pickups. It provided a means of competing with Gibson, and of offering an alternative for rock, blues, and jazz players who were adding humbuckers to existing Telecasters, in the neck position in particular, but who were never really in the majority of Tele players either. Regardless, few players or manufacturers would attempt to better the tone achieved by a good vintage Telecaster bridge pickup, only to reproduce it. It is worth noting here, though, that in developing the Wide Range Humbucker, Lover used magnetized pole pieces made from cunife rod magnets (an alloy of copper, nickel, and iron), which are soft enough to be threaded. His design thus maintained the Fender pickup standard for “magnet within coil” rather than using steel pole pieces within the coil, with a magnet beneath, as used in his legendary humbucker design for Gibson. Controls and Switching The wiring and associated controls and switching employed in the Telecaster’s simple electronics layout chiefly determine how the existing pickup tones can be routed, but also play a part in shaping those tones. It could even be argued that elements of the original Telecaster wiring schemes—both that used briefly from 1950 to ’52 and the revision used from ’53 to ’67—imposed further (arguably undesirable) sonic elements upon the guitar, while inhibiting certain otherwise existing, and desirable, tonal options. With this in mind, the Telecaster presents a rare case in which a common modification from the original design might be considered a “standard” of sorts, or at least deserves to be addressed in this examination of the guitar’s tonal capabilities. (continued on page 178) 1968 Telecaster. Doug Youland, Willie’s American Guitars

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 175

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 175 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 175

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 175

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Brad Paisley

I

t might seem a little “obvious,” but if you’re born with the name Brad Paisley perhaps you really have little choice. While the

majority of iconic Telecasters, and those the country pickers tend to lust after most, are pre-CBS models, this hot gun of the current Nashville is bound by fate to wield a model that was not introduced until well into the CBS years. Regarded for many years by plenty of traditional players as looking rather like some marketing man’s

that have attained collectible status over the years, thanks in part

rendition of a hippie acid trip, the Paisley Tele was first given some

to its limited production numbers. Although “Paisley Red” by name,

respectability by James Burton and has recently been raised to new

the effects of the paisley stick-on graphics on the top of the guitar,

heights by Brad Paisley, acknowledged savior of traditional country

as well as the aging of the finish, give it a much lighter look, and

Tele picking. He has used an original ’68 Paisley Red Telecaster

it’s often referred to as a “Pink Paisley” model. Brad Paisley says

that’s older than he is on all of his significant recordings and most

it’s more than just the eye-catching looks that make these instru-

live tours (where it is supplemented by four Tele reproductions

ments desirable, though. “I feel the maple-capped neck is one of the

made by luthier Bill Crook).

factors that makes those such good instruments,” he told Vintage

However, the original Paisley Teles were by no means post-

Guitar magazine’s Ward Meeker in 2005. “Also, some of the lightest

CBS dogs. While pre-CBS Fender guitars still remain most

guitars Fender ever made were from the late ’60s. A lot of people

prized, the Paisley Tele is one of a handful of CBS-era models

think of early ’50s Teles as being these really light, perfect guitars.

176 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 176 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 176

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 176

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“People were always saying I should be playing a Paisley Tele, but I just thought they were ugly. And then it evolved. I was always into James Burton—he was one of my heroes—so I went and found one at a guitar show and that’s the main one I have now. I had a bender put in it, fell in love with it, and it’s my main guitar.”

—Brad Paisley

Soon after graduation, Paisley signed on as a songwriter with EMI Publishing and was picked up as an artist by Arista records not long after that. Since the release of his debut album, 1999’s Who Needs Pictures, he has accrued twenty-one No. 1 country radio hits and won three Grammy Awards, fourteen Country Music Association But they were very inconsistent. Most of them had a magic all their

Awards, and another fifteen Academy of Country Music Awards, all

own, but some of them weren’t as light as late ’60s Telecasters.

attesting to his success as a vocalist and songwriter, as well as his

Those two factors—a great piece of wood and a great neck . . . and

skills as a guitarist.

quality control hadn’t yet gone downhill in the late ’60s.”

Paisley is often credited with bringing authentic Tele twang back

Paisley was born in 1972 in Wheeling, West Virginia, and raised

to Nashville in an era when over-polished, rack-processed tones

in the small town of Glen Dale, in staunch bluegrass and country

threatened to take over Guitar Town. For archetypal examples of the

music territory. Paisley’s grandfather gave him a Danelectro electric

Brad Paisley—and Paisley Telecaster—tone, listen to tunes such as

at the age of eight and taught him to play. Soon he was performing

“The World” or “Alcohol” from Time Well Wasted, or “Throttleneck,”

at church, school functions, and local events, and, while still in his

an instrumental track from 5th Gear that won him his first Grammy

early teens, he was invited by radio station WWVA to appear on the

Award. Paisley is the first to acknowledge that it takes more than

long-running Jamboree USA. The success of that guest spot led to

a good guitar to create a hit sound, though, and he gives his amps

an invitation to be a permanent fixture on the show, and for the next

credit for a big part of the winning formula. Long enamored of a

eight years Paisley opened for national country stars such as Ricky

1962 Vox AC30, which he still often uses in the studio, Paisley is

Skaggs, George Jones, Steve Wariner, The Judds, and many others.

also a fan of several Dr. Z models, often playing a Stingray (prototype

After two years of study at the nearby West Liberty College, Paisley

of the production model Stang Ray), a Z-Wreck, and others. Paisley

transferred to Nashville’s prestigious Belmont University as a music

also uses amps by Trainwreck and Tony Bruno, usually running

business major.

through several together both live and in the studio.

B R A D PA I S L E Y • 177

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 177 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 177

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 177

16/7/20 5:03 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

(continued from page 175)

followed it, no means of instantly switching to that now-leg-

Rather bizarrely, Fender’s original selections for the three-way

endary bridge pickup, other than by keeping the blend control

switch in the Broadcaster’s control section shunned the obvious

wound down to zero.

choices of neck, middle, and bridge pickup with a tone control in

The revised wiring scheme of late 1952 did little better,

circuit for all of them. Perhaps it was just a bid to be too clever, or

and arguably worse. It added a conventional tone control that

a notion that they needed to make this guitar at least approximate

was now in-circuit in two switch positions, but dropped the

the sound of a big, boomy archtop for players who might expect

both-pickups setting—arguably a greater loss than it was a gain.

that. Whatever the thinking, two-pickup guitars made in the first

Switch settings now looked like this:

two years of production were wired to offer the following (from frontward to rearward switch positions respectively): 1. Neck pickup with a low-frequency emphasis created by a small network of one capacitor and one resistor, no tone control 2. Neck pickup straight to volume control, no tone control

1. Neck pickup with low-frequency emphasis and no tone control (similar to the previous number one setting, although now employing only a capacitor) 2. Neck pickup with conventional tone control 3. Bridge pickup with conventional tone control

3. Both pickups together with “tone” control actually wired as a blend control to add the neck pickup as desired

Crazy, right? It’s little surprise that so many players modified their Telecasters to the more conventional neck/both/bridge

Oddly, with the above configuration, having created the

switching, with the tone control in-circuit for all settings. What

greatest twang machine the music world had ever seen, Fender

is surprising, though, is that plenty of players didn’t—as well

gave the Broadcaster, and the Nocaster, and early Telecaster that

as the fact that Fender itself didn’t change the post-’53 wiring until 1967. The pickups’ signals also pass through the volume potentiometer, so it’s clear that this component will affect the guitar’s tone, too. A volume pot works by determining the balance of how much of the signal introduced at its input is passed along to either of its two remaining terminals. As used in the Telecaster, and most electric guitars, the second terminal goes to the output jack, the third to ground. With the pot turned fully clockwise, the entire signal flows to the output jack, but as you rotate it counter-clockwise, an increasingly greater proportion is tapped off to ground, decreasing the signal at the output. In addition to this purely functional behavior, however, pots of different values also lead the resultant tone to sound different. Roughly speaking, the higher the potentiometer’s value, the more high-frequency content it retains in the signal, although its taper will be more dramatic. Fender originally used a 250k-ohm potentiometer for the volume control, which retained plenty of highs in the signal Custom Shop 60th Anniversary Nocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

178 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 178 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 178

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 178

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Custom Shop 60th Anniversary Broadcaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

(these are bright pickups, after all, with more than enough

the tone pot as such, but this control performs its function by

treble for most tastes) and offered a smooth taper (or “roll-

bleeding off high frequencies according to the rotation of the pot,

off ”) as the volume was decreased. In the late ’60s, starting

at a frequency shelf determined by the tone capacitor.

a year or two after the switch wiring was changed to the

The heavily knurled chromed knobs atop these controls are a

more conventional selections, Fender introduced a 1M-ohm

familiar part of the Telecaster’s look and feel. Other than the tall,

potentiometer to the Telecaster, which impeded the guitar’s

flat knobs of the first Esquires and Broadcasters, these evolved

highs even less than the former 250k pot (which, again, offered

from the more rounded-domed brass knobs of the pre-’57

little noticeable impedance anyway). To this, a small .001uF

Nocasters and Teles to the taller, flatter-topped steel knobs of the

disc cap was wired between terminals one and two (the input

post-’57 guitars, though even within those periods a surprising

and output), to retain high-end presence as the pot was turned

variety of subtle variations is evident. Whatever type it carries,

down. The overall result was some extremely bright Telecasters,

these distinctive pieces of hardware don’t affect the tone of the

guitars on which players looking for more classic meaty twang

instrument, but a Tele just wouldn’t feel like a Tele without that

and snarl were more likely to jump to the tone controls to roll

rough metal knob to wrap your little finger around. Beyond these components, little can be said to have a signif-

off some highs. A 250k tone pot has always been used on traditional

icant effect on the sound of the Telecaster. Purists do like to see

Telecasters, connected to the grounded terminal of the volume

the correct switch tip, strap buttons, pickguards, and even the

pot via a .05uF capacitor (often actually a .047uF cap, the closest

correct pickguard mounting screws on their vintage guitars, or

value available from many manufacturers), as well as directly to

purportedly accurate reproductions thereof, but these can’t lay

the volume pot’s input terminal. The signal doesn’t “pass through”

claim to much sonic virtuosity one way or the other.

P A R T I I : T H E T E L E C A S T E R • 179

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 179 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 179

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 179

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 180 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 180

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 180

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

PART III

THE STRATOCASTER

THE SUBLIMELY SEXY AND SUPERBLY VERSATILE STRATOCASTER, released in 1954, was

a quantum leap from the bare-bones Esquire and Broadcaster that had come out four years before (the guitar soon and forever after known as the Telecaster). Even if you are first and foremost a Telecaster fan, you can’t deny that the Stratocaster took the electric guitar into an entirely different plane of existence design-wise. Compared to the Telecaster, even today, the Stratocaster appears a bold departure in the form; at the time, it must have looked like a music machine from another planet. Or at least from another generation—one capable of putting the frights into the knife-creased slacks of the generation that came before. With the Stratocaster, Leo Fender finally left behind any semblance of what our common conception of “guitar” had been just a half dozen years before, other than in the six strings and E-A-D-G-B-E tuning. From out of the slab-bodied, two-pickup, hardtail twanger had grown an extremely versatile performance machine with the looks to match its revolutionary sonic capabilities. In light of its humble origins, the Stratocaster is all the more impressive, coming not from a large, established maker with several decades of success in the industry, but from one self-driven man with a hat full of great ideas, a few maverick helpers, and a willingness to thoughtfully examine the true needs of musicians of the day.

1954 Stratocaster. Chicago Music Exchange (www.chicagomusicexchange.com)

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 181 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 181

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 181

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Buddy Guy plays the blues on his early Stratocaster in London, 1965. Val Wilmer/ Redferns/Getty Images

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 182 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 182

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 182

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps, including guitarman Johnny Meeks, ham for the camera with their sharp new blonde Stratocasters, Precision Bass, and a grand tweed Twin-Amp. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

HISTORY OF THE STRATOCASTER

IN THE EARLY 1950S, WITH THE TELECASTER doing relatively well in its first years, Fender was

earning a broader following. After the Tele’s debut in 1950, Leo logged another major first in 1951 with the release of the Precision Bass. The Fender amplifier line was growing apace, and another classic of the steel-guitar lineup was launched in the form of the Stringmaster in 1952. To gain even more customers, Fender needed a somewhat different and more versatile addition to the lineup. The development of a new and even more radical second Fender solidbody six-string was a team effort, bringing in a new design talent, a Tele endorsee who seemed to never have been entirely happy with the design, and ultimately winning over a major name who outright rejected the slab-bodied single-cut. Just exactly when it all happened, though, and precisely who was at the drawing table (or was holding the pen, at least), seem to be points of debate that will never be entirely settled.

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 183 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 183

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 183

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1954 Stratocaster. Chicago Music Exchange, www.chicagomusicexchange.com

Even if you don’t know his name, or know it only from other

eventually settled for good in the Los Angeles area, where he

books on Fender history that you might have read, you will have

dedicated himself mainly to session and radio work—avoiding

heard at least one example of Freddie Tavares’s steel-guitar play-

extensive touring to remain home with the family—and per-

ing on countless occasions, in the form of the iconic lap-steel

formed on recordings by the Andrews Sisters, Deanna Durbin,

glissando that opens the theme to vintage Loony Tunes cartoons.

Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Sons of the Pioneers, Spike Jones and

Tavares was a far more skilled and accomplished player than this

the City Slickers, and even Elvis Presley.

novelty example might imply, though, and he had a background

In addition to his playing achievements, Tavares had taught

that would seem primed to be bent to the will of a growing

himself electronics and other mechanical crafts and had built

Fender company. He was born on the Hawaiian island of Maui

his own steel guitars and amplifiers. While playing at LA’s

in 1913, one of twelve children born to Portuguese immigrant

Cowtown Club with the Ozark Mountain Boys in 1953,

Antone Tavares and his wife, Julia Akana, who was of Hawaiian,

Tavares was introduced to Leo Fender by fellow steel guitarist

Chinese, English, and Tahitian-Samoan descent. He took up the

Noel Boggs. Legend has it (as detailed in a story by Shannon

guitar at the age of twelve when his older brother left his own

Wianecki in Hanahou magazine, September 2012) that Tavares

instrument behind upon heading to law school, and in 1934,

pointed out several faults in Fender’s amps—in answer to which

at the age of twenty-one, he joined Harry Owens and the Royal

Leo Fender pulled out a screwdriver, removed the back panel

Hawaiians, the famed house band at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel

from Tavares’s own homemade amp, checked the work inside

in Waikiki. The Royal Hawaiians, with Tavares on the steel,

the chassis, and then offered him a job in the Fender develop-

frequently toured the United States over the course of several

ment lab on the spot.

years and recorded numerous sides and movie soundtracks in

Most credible accounts of the development of the Stratocaster

Hollywood in the process. Tavares, his wife, and two young sons

indicate that Tavares’s job was tasked with concocting the body

184 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 184 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 184

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 184

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

shape and general design of the new guitar, which was but a

THE SALESMAN DRIVES A REVOLUTION

basic concept in Leo’s mind at the time of Freddie’s arrival at

While we bicker and argue over who designed the Stratocaster,

the Pomona Street factory in spring 1953. In his book The

it can often be too easy to ignore the role played by the man

Fender Stratocaster (Hal Leonard, 1994), A.R. Duchossoir quotes

at Fender who very likely asked for this new model in the first

Tavares as saying, “The first real project that I had was to put the

place and was in a position to see it fit into the new and grow-

Stratocaster on [the] drawing board. It was about April or May

ing market. Don Randall, Leo Fender’s partner in the Fender

1953 and Leo said, ‘We need a new guitar,’ and I said, ‘How

Sales arm of the business and the head of the team responsible

far apart are the strings at the nut, how far [at] the bridge?’ I

for getting Fender guitars and amplifiers into the stores, was

got those parameters and I said, ‘What’s the scale?’ Then I knew

the single biggest hub for receiving consumer feedback from

where the strings are and we started from there.”

dealers and players and directing it to where it would do some

Leo Fender was himself quoted as saying that he was already

good. As such, he was adept at translating that into features that

working on elements of the Stratocaster’s design in 1951 and

Leo and the design team could use to make the products more

1952, and it seems some players—Bill Carson among them—

saleable. Randall had input on several features of Fender guitars

were asking for a new and more deluxe solid-body electric, and

over the years, details that would either appeal to players, thus

particularly one with a built-in vibrato unit, perhaps as early as

making the instruments easier for RTEC reps to sell to dealers,

this. No clear records exist, however, of drawings or prototypes

or that might prevent warranty nightmares that would cost the

or dated accounts of Stratocaster R&D going on as early as this,

company money. Adjustable bridge saddles, adjustable pickups,

and, while Leo wasn’t afraid to take his time and get things right,

multiple pickups and switching, and stylistic elements involv-

most new models were moving more quickly from prototype to

ing body and headstock shapes might all seem the purview of

production by this time than the ponderous three years that Leo’s

the guitars’ designers, but as often as not these were concocted

account implies. Ultimately, as with some other

at the direct urging of Randall and his sales

things, it might be that Mr. Fender’s

team.

memory was a little hazy by the time he stated such things in interviews.

In addition to his influence on designs in the lab, Don Randall had an even more

It seems we are unlikely to ever know

direct impact on the public perception of

precisely who concocted exactly what

Fender products that were floated onto

detail and when, other than that there

the guitar market. Randall named the

was input to a greater or lesser extent

Broadcaster due to the vast popularity

from each of several individuals, includ-

of radio, the dominant form of media

ing Fender employees Tavares and George

at the time of the guitar’s release. In a

Fullerton, performers Bill Carson and Rex

genius stroke of foresight, he renamed

Galleon, Fender sales director Don Randall,

it the Telecaster in spring 1951 after

and of course Leo Fender himself. A look at

the Gretsch company objected to the

what is known of the development of differ-

first model name’s similarity to its

ent aspects of the Stratocaster, however, even

“Broadkaster” drum kit. Randall, a

if the credit given—or claimed—is some-

licensed pilot, would also be the man

times apocryphal, should bring us closer to

to take the next major Fender guitar

an understanding of what a groundbreaking

into the stratosphere in 1954 with an

undertaking it was in its day.

appropriately thrusting name.

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 185

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 185 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 185

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 185

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

THE TEAM PUTS THE PIECES TOGETHER

Added together, the result was arguably the most comfortable-

The easiest way to see how much the new Stratocaster brought

feeling and versatile-performing guitar on the market at the time,

to the table might be to start with the Telecaster as a template—

anywhere, and this just four years after Fender had entered the

which is certainly how the Fender team, and the players and sales

Spanish-electric guitar market in the first place. The impressive

reps who influenced them, would have perceived the venture—

thing is that none of these ingredients, so ubiquitous today that

and examine what was changed or added to the formula. The

we largely take them for granted, came about merely by whim or

neck, of course, remained virtually the same, other than gaining

chance. All were enacted for one good reason or another, and they

a larger headstock shape, purportedly at Don Randall’s request,

coalesced toward a spectacular whole from sometimes disparate

to more proudly display the Fender logo. The body was still

points of origin.

crafted from solid swamp ash, and the pickups were still of a thin

Guitarist Bill Carson seems to have been looking for changes

single-coil design, employing individual Alnico rod-magnet pole

to the Telecaster design from the start, or at least from the time he

pieces with a coil wound around them. Other than these, though,

made Leo Fender’s acquaintance around mid-1951. Carson has

virtually every detail of the new guitar was entirely different. Radical new elements in the Stratocaster design included the following: • a more comfortable body shape, with contours where it met the player’s ribcage and right forearm • a broader sonic range, courtesy of three individual pickups • a more ergonomic control layout, along with a recessed jack for accidental pull-out safety • a built-in vibrato unit • not least of all, superbly stylish new looks

This 1955 nontremelo Stratocaster belongs to ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons. David Perry

186 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 186 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 186

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 186

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

inclusion of this feature, as with so many other things, because it would have been a major feature upon which to sell the new guitar. Nevertheless, a player like Carson still helps us understand the appeal of this piece of hardware. “Steel guitar played said in several inter-

a large part in country and western swing bands,” he told A.R.

views that he often

Duchossoir. “When I was doing studio sessions with a foot con-

suggested Fender build a

trol [volume pedal] that Leo made me, I could use a vibrato and

guitar with a built-in vibrato. He is also fre-

do steel guitar things and I would sometimes get paid double for

quently credited with coming up with the ideas

the session.” For the musicians, it was all about the functional

to contour the Stratocaster’s body. As Carson told A.R.

tool, and that was something Leo Fender had understood—and

Duchossoir in 1988 in interviews for The Fender Stratocaster,

gotten right—from the start.

“The thing I didn’t like about the Telecaster was the discomfort of it, because I was doing a lot of studio work at the time on the West Coast and sitting down its square edges really dug into my rib.” That said, Leo Fender himself has also been quoted as saying, in interviews with Duchossoir and elsewhere, that the contouring notion came from local guitarist Rex Galleon before it was suggested by Carson. Either way, it’s likely that multiple recommendations from respected performers helped the idea to achieve a sort of critical mass with Leo and resulted in the two bandsaw swipes for the tummy and forearm contours that produce the extremely comfortable feel of the Stratocaster body as we know it today. As for the development of what might arguably have been the Stratocaster’s most innovative advancement on the form, the built-in vibrato bridge, well, it seemed this one required quite a bit more effort. While Carson has also, via several sources, claimed responsibility for suggesting this one, the vibrato unit was unlikely to have been his idea alone, or even first. Leo knew not long after the Telecaster started gaining acceptance that he would need to build a guitar with a vibrato, to fend off competition from the guitar Paul Bigsby originally designed and built for picker

The Sparkletones loved their Fender Stratocasters and picked those Strats to a big 1957 hit with “Black Slacks.”

Merle Travis, a solidbody that preceded the Esquire and Broadcaster’s release. In addition, the Bigsby vibrato unit that soon showed up retro-fitted to Gibson and Gretsch guitars was gaining momentum. It is likely that Don Randall had urged the

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 187

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 187 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 187

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 187

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

While the concerned parties at Fender pretty much knew the

this desirable characteristic. To further enhance the string-to-

new model would at least carry a vibrato, well before either the

string balance, Fender also used magnets of staggered heights on

shape of the vibrato or the guitar itself were anything close to

the new Stratocaster pickups, with lower magnets on the louder

final conception, tackling that task would prove more time con-

strings for a comparable overall output across all six.

suming than all other elements of the new design. According to

The inclusion of three of these new pickups on the new guitar

George Fullerton, as quoted in an interview in Tom Wheeler’s

would also prove a feature the sales team could brag about, and

The Stratocaster Chronicles, “The vibrato was the new guitar’s last

the trio sure looked impressive up against what was available in

piece. . . . We already had the body contouring, pickup design,

the day. Even if the three pickups didn’t give the Stratocaster, with

third pickup . . . the new headstock shape, the tooling—every-

its three-way switch, any more tone selections than the Telecaster

thing except that vibrato had already been accepted.”

already possessed, the ones it did have were arguably already more usable (see Stratocaster Tone and Construction for further dis-

NEW PICKUPS AND ELECTRONICS

cussion of these points). The Stratocaster’s switching and control

Whereas Gibson largely used the same pickup design throughout

complement didn’t yet tap the full potential of the trio of pickups

the model range from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, Fender

and their various combinations; it was more versatile than many

went with three different pickups for its flagship Spanish-electric

guitars of its day. The use of a master volume control with direct

guitars in the space of just a few years. All might have shared

routing of the bridge pickup from switch to volume, along with

some similarities in that they were relatively narrow single-coil

individual tone controls for the bridge and middle pickups, yielded

pickups with individual rod magnet segments for pole pieces, but

a clear, crisp tone from each of the three switch positions (fulfilling

each was unique regardless. The Telecaster carried quite different

that Fender objective yet again), where the Telecaster still retained a

pickups in its bridge and neck positions, with a wider, longer coil

pre-set “bassy sound,” with the neck pickup wired through a small

in the former than in the latter, and Leo had determined that

capacitor network in the forward switch position, a tone that many

something different still would be needed for the new model.

players found virtually useless.

As discussed earlier, treble content—which aided brightness,

In addition to the wiring schematic beneath them, the

clarity, and cutting power—was valued highly at the time, and

positioning of the switch and controls themselves was arguably

Leo sought the same in his new pickup. In order to achieve an

more ergonomic than that of any production electric guitar seen

adequate blend of bite and body, Fender settled on 42 AWG cop-

before. The Fender team very consciously placed the master

per wire wound in a narrow coil around six individual pole pieces

volume control within easy access of the player’s right-hand

cut from Alnico V rod magnets, all supported by thin fiber top

“pinky” finger for easy, on-the-fly volume swells, while the three-

and bottom plates. This was essentially the same construction

way switch was equally accessible for quick pickup changes. The

used in the Telecaster’s bridge pickup at the time, wound into

result was a guitar that, from head to tail, would be deemed by

a slightly narrower coil with a little less coil wire, although the

many musicians to be more playable and sonically versatile than

earliest Broadcaster bridge pickups, and ongoing Telecaster neck

any to have come before it.

pickups, used a finer 43 AWG wire. The result was a pickup with slightly less beef in the tone than that of the Tele’s bridge pickup,

PROTOTYPING AND PERFECTING

for a bright, cutting sound in the bridge position, and a fat and

THE FENDER VIBRATO

warm, yet clear and articulate, tone in the neck position.

Deciding you need a built-in vibrato on your new guitar and

All Fender pickups were noted for their excellent string-to-

actually developing an original unit that functions well in every

string articulation, a feature enhanced by the individual pole

respect are two different things. The task proved one of the great-

pieces cut from actual magnets, and the Strat certainly retained

est undertakings of Fender’s early years and was also the slowest

188 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 188 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 188

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 188

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1956 Stratocaster. Michael Dregni

piece of the Stratocaster puzzle to come together. Note, too, that this unit was far more than just “a built-in vibrato.” Rather than a separate piece of hardware that could be added behind whatever bridge existed—somewhat like the Kauffman Vib-Rola or Bigsby vibrato (or later, the Gibson’s Maestro Vibrola or Burns Vibrato)—the final product was an entirely new design that encompassed both bridge and tailpiece in one unit. The eventual result would include several other major innovations, in addition to the vibrato effect of which it was capable, but it took some time and several iterations to get the “all-in-one-unit” part of the equation, as well as the several details within it, just right.

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 189

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 189 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 189

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 189

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The bridge of a 1956 Stratocaster. Michael Dregni

Again, we have to accept that memories and accurate

lacked the mass and solidity needed to provide adequate sustain

chronologies might have grown a little hazy with time, but

and to achieve a solid tone in the first place. Rather than con-

Tom Wheeler writes in The Stratocaster Chronicles that George

tinue to address details of the existing design to correct its faults,

Fullerton reported that Fender had already started putting one

extending an effort that had already taken several months to get

hundred Stratocasters through the line—and had completed

the vibrato to its current state, Leo, Freddie Tavares, and George

one guitar—with the first “final” rendition of the bridge.

Fullerton abandoned the thing altogether and started in on an

Fender was making a major effort to get the guitar to the

entirely new approach.

summer NAMM show in June 1953, but it was not to be. “I

As familiar as the final rendition of the Stratocaster vibrato

couldn’t wait that morning to get the first one off the line,”

unit is to us now, it’s easy to overlook what a brilliant piece of

Fullerton told Wheeler. “I grabbed that one and tested it out,

design it is. In going back to the drawing board, Leo and his team

and it was terribly bad sounding. . . . I rushed to the lab, Leo

stripped this thing down to what we can now see are the bare

and I looked at it, and we called Freddie over to look at it. That

essentials for an all-in-one bridge and tailpiece with sensitive and

vibrato sounded like a tin can. We all agreed it wasn’t going to

accurate vibrato functions and individual and fully adjustable

work, so we shut down the line. It was a sad day. It was then

saddles. The saddles alone were revolutionary in their day and

that Leo went back to the drawing board.”

provided players with an unprecedented degree of fine-adjust-

This “first final” rendition of the important new component,

ment of intonation and playing action (Gibson’s Tune-o-matic

while manufactured to be an all-in-one, drop-in unit, included

bridge, which also hit the market in 1954 on the Les Paul Custom,

a tailpiece that was separate to the bridge and moved with the

had individual saddles that were adjustable for intonation, but

player’s depression of the vibrato bar, along with roller saddles

only global adjustment for bridge height via thumb-wheels at

to help the strings return accurately to pitch. The main prob-

either end of the bridge). What really made Fender’s new vibrato

lem, it seemed, was that with so many moving parts, as well as

work right, however—and, more importantly, sound right—lay

some side-to-side movement in the saddles themselves, the unit

beneath its relatively simple surface components.

190 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 190 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 190

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 190

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

To compensate for the lack of body mass in the string anchor-

“vibrato,” even though it did not fluctuate the pitch of the guitar

ing of the vibrato bridge (a situation created by anchoring the

signal in any way, but pulsated the volume. Fender repeated the

strings to a moving part), Leo devised a steel inertia block that

misnomer on his patent application for the new “Tremolo Device

he mounted below the vibrato’s base plate. The strings were

for Stringed Instrument,” filed August 30, 1954, and granted a

loaded through holes drilled through the block and, as a result,

little less than two years later.

were anchored with the mass needed for satisfactory tone and sustain. The inertia block also served as the connection point

PROTOTYPE TURNS TO PRODUCTION

for the springs (up to five), which were anchored at their other

For all the work that went into pulling together the Strat’s revo-

end at a “spring claw” screwed into the body, at the far end of a

lutionary new ingredients—including having prototypes in the

channel routed into the guitar’s back. The steel bridge base, with

field for testing by mid-1953, and the ongoing development of

bent-steel saddles above and inertia block below, had knife-edge

new components—we have far fewer verifiable reports or pho-

fulcrum points in its six mounting holes, which anchored against

tos of genuine Stratocaster prototypes than we do of Telecaster

hardened steel screws to minimize friction while in motion. The

prototypes. In his book Fender: The Sound Heard Round the

end result was a unit that moved fluidly and returned to pitch

World, Fender historian Richard Smith published photos taken

well but still provided a solid strings-to-body anchor, with a

by Leo Fender of a supposed Stratocaster prototype from 1953.

good, ringing tone and impressive sustain.

The photos showed a “breadboard” guitar of sorts, with a black

It might have put the development of the new model as a

fiber pickguard, knurled silver Telecaster-style knobs, and a back

whole back by a good six months or so, but the new vibrato really

route wide enough to take only three springs rather than the stan-

was a wonder of engineering. The lack of “dead” string space

dard five. Otherwise, there has always been a lot of gray area

between a tailpiece and the bridge saddles, and the fact that the

between “late prototype” and “early production,” and it’s possible

strings didn’t need to slide over the saddles to produce the unit’s

that several genuine prototypes were either lost, or intentionally

pitch fluctuation, meant far fewer tuning instabilities than expe-

destroyed, once the Stratocaster proper was actually released.

rienced in some other vibrato units. In addition, the ingenious inertia block proved a wondrously simple solution to a problem that had threatened to sink the entire enterprise in the final hour. Although Fender dubbed the new unit the “Synchronized Tremolo Action” when it released the Stratocaster and billed it as one of the new guitar’s top features, it was, of course, a “vibrato” and not a “tremolo.” Tremolo more accurately describes the modulation of volume, rather than frequency or pitch. A vibrato, on the other hand, modulates pitch, which is exactly what Fender’s “Synchronized Tremolo” does. Conversely, Fender also usually referred to the genuine tremolo effect on many of its amplifiers as

1956 Stratocaster. Michael Dregni

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 191

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 191 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 191

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 191

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 192 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 192

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 192

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Regardless, by early 1954 Fender’s new guitar had found its ultimate form and was ready to hit the market. The final ingredi-

wouldn’t be filed for some three months, and the patent wouldn’t be granted until two years later.

ents were a nifty new jack plate design—and a name. The former

Regardless, Fender widely proclaimed this built-in tremolo

took shape as a recessed jack plate mounted conveniently on the

to be a “first,” and the feature would be one of its major selling

top of the guitar, alongside the switches, which both prevented the

points, along with its “Comfort Contoured” body, three pick-

usual blind fumbling around trying to insert the ¼-inch plug into

ups, new tone controls and switching, and surface-mounted

the hole normally found on the lower edge of the body, and let the

“plug receptacle.” The first print ad to promote the new guitar,

plug pull out cleanly if you accidentally stepped on your guitar

published in the May issue of International Musician magazine

cord, rather than bending the cord’s plug end or, worse, ripping out

(on the shelves in April), touted all of these features, along with

a chunk of wood as you crowbarred the entire jack from the guitar.

an illustration of the new Stratocaster above a sketch of protons

The name came courtesy of Don Randall, head of Fender

whirling through their orbits around a stylized atom. Whoever

Sales, who was a licensed pilot and was known to fly his own

penned the ad, it certainly bore Don Randall’s signature.

plane to important meetings and sales opportunities. His coinage

Despite this optimism over shipping dates, the Stratocaster

of “Stratocaster” fit perfectly with the times: it pitched the guitar

didn’t ramp-up to full production until later that summer. The first

beyond the present, into a soaring future that the day’s musi-

hundred or so guitars were numbered 0100 to 0207 on the back of

cians—and Cold War citizenry in general—were only beginning

their spring-cavity covers (at a time when Telecasters’ serial num-

to imagine. Regarding the team effort of putting together this

bers were stamped into their bridge plates). From around late fall

new model, and the several apocryphal tales related to it, Randall

1954, both the Telecaster and Stratocaster had their serial numbers

told Tom Wheeler, “A lot of these guys who claim credit for the

stamped into the plates that reinforced the screws attaching neck

Stratocaster didn’t have a damn thing to do with it. I don’t mean

to body. The guitar’s initial retail price was set at $249.50 with

to put any of them down, but the salesmen and I, we were the

Synchronized Tremolo (the Telecaster was $189.50 at the time), or

ones who knew the business, knew the competition, and we

$229.50 for the “hardtail” version without vibrato, plus $39.95 for

knew what we needed.” What they needed was a guitar that both

the hardshell case covered in “grain hair seal simulated covering,”

walked the walk and talked the talk, an electric that both looked

according to early Fender sales literature.

and sounded unlike anything that had come before and could be

Some historians like to refer to Stratocasters produced prior

boldly promoted as such. In the new Stratocaster, they received

to September or October as “pre-production models,” although

all that and more.

since Fender Sales had already announced the availability of a

Early-production Stratocasters started rolling through the

production model in May of that year, it seems sensible to

Fender factory by spring 1954, and Randall’s sales team, now an

think of the earliest guitars from spring 1954 onward simply as

independent entity after the creation of Fender Sales in summer

Stratocasters with rare early specs. Other than a handful of early

1953, was hot to crow about it. One notice to Fender dealers sent

guitars produced with anodized aluminum pickguards, the main

in early spring 1954, “Announcing the new Fender Stratocaster,”

differences were the somewhat smaller knobs made from slightly

declared “shipments are expected to begin May 15.” The same

pearloid-looking white plastic found on the earliest Stratocasters,

notice claimed, of the new Synchronized Tremolo, “This sectional

followed by a more brittle plastic, often referred to as Bakelite,

bridge is a patented feature which no other guitar on the market

that was used for knobs, pickup covers, and pickguard for a brief

today can duplicate. . . .” In fact, the actual patent application

period. The wear that the pickup covers underwent in particular, it would seem, from constant abrasion from the player’s pick or

Duane Allman’s 1955 Stratocaster. Will Ireland/ Total Guitar Magazine/Getty Images

finger-nails, led to the use of a more durable plastic for these components by early 1955.

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 193

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 193 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 193

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 193

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

STANDARD EARLY APPOINTMENTS

used beneath the blonde finish on most so-called “Mary Kaye”

Alongside these relatively superficial cosmetic details of the early

Stratocasters, and on some other custom-order examples.

run of Stratocasters, which nevertheless excite collectors to no end, the early specs and appointments of the model are probably

All-Maple Neck

even more significant from the perspective of performance. Some

A solid maple neck with the truss rod inserted into a channel in

of these details will be discussed at greater length in Stratocaster

the back (with tell-tale walnut “skunk stripe” and headstock “tear-

Tone and Construction, but these basics essentially defined the

drop”) was used from the guitar’s debut until around mid-1959.

original Fender Stratocaster of 1954 and the first few years that

While these appeared outwardly similar throughout the era, the

followed.

profile (back shape) changed significantly over the years, giving quite a different playing feel to Stratocasters from different points

Swamp-Ash Body

within the decade. The early necks had a beefy, rounded shape,

The Stratocaster debuted with a body made from solid swamp

but by 1955 a chunky V-neck, or “boat-neck” shape arrived,

ash, still the wood used for the Telecaster at the time, with fore-

which thinned out somewhat through the course of 1956 and

arm and ribcage contours—the latter in particular—that might

1957. During 1958, necks became more rounded and C shaped,

seem extremely deep to those more familiar with later examples of the breed, making it a very comfortable guitar to play. In 1956 the wood of choice shifted to alder, although ash was still

2012 Custom Shop 1956 Ash Desert Sand Heavy Relic Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

194 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 194 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 194

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 194

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

though less chunky than the original 1954 necks, and began to

Stratocaster’s official production began, and which were intended

slim out even more going into 1959 and 1960.

as a major selling point of the new model, remained the standard at the guitar’s release. Well known to players today as the ubiq-

Six-in-Line Headstock

uitous “Stratocaster pickup,” these had six individual pole pieces

Fender had already used a six-in-line headstock for the Telecaster,

cut from Alnico V rod magnets to somewhat different lengths for

but the shape introduced on the Stratocaster has become even

staggered heights to balance out variances in string output. They

more iconic and a universal symbol of the brand. It is frequently

were originally wound with an average of 8,500 or so turns of 42

pointed out that the solid-body guitar built in the mid-1940s

AWG Formvar-coated wire.

by Paul Bigsby, initially for artist Merle Travis and then others, had a similar headstock long before the Strat, and even before the

Master Volume, Two Tones, Three-Way Switch

Broadcaster and Esquire, but Leo declared his own reasons for

Although it has become another “standard” of sorts, the

using the all-on-one-side design: “That’s a very old idea that has

Stratocaster’s complement of a single volume control, individ-

been around for thousands of years. The Croatians, near Poland,

ual tone controls for the neck and middle pickups, and a three-way selector switch defined an impressive

have several instruments

control setup when the guitar was released in 1954 and was another of its saleable features. Fender didn’t change the main specifications of this configuration for a full twenty-three years—a five-way switch finally arriving as standard in 1977—although some playwith tuning pegs located on one

ers did modify it to suit their own particular playing needs. Quite

side of the guitar and they invented this years ago,”

early on, several guitarists would find use for the funky sounding

he told Guitar Player magazine in 1971. And the reason to use

in-between switch settings that blended the bridge-middle and

such a design in 1954? Putting the tuners all on one side of the

middle-neck pickups by balancing the three-way switch between

headstock allows a straight line from nut slot to tuner post, thus

positions; others would find the second tone control more useful

reducing hitching in the nut slots and resultant tuning instabilities.

on the bright bridge pickup than on the warm neck pickup, and rewire accordingly.

Vibrato Bridge and Kluson Tuners The most revolutionary element of the Stratocaster’s hardware

Sunburst Finish

set, its Synchronized Tremolo, has already been covered in some

Although custom colors were more prevalent on the Strat than

detail. It was such a comprehensive component that the guitar

on the Tele, with a handful of notable examples early on, then

didn’t carry much else in the hardware department other than

several more later in the decade, the only truly “standard” finish

its Kluson tuners. The guitar also had a round string guide at

available on the Stratocaster for twenty-five years was sunburst.

the front of the headstock between the B and high-E strings that

This was a two-tone sunburst, running from dark edges to a

increased the tension of these in the nut slots on their long jour-

golden-amber center, from the guitar’s arrival in 1954 until mid-

neys to the tuner posts.

1958, when a three-tone sunburst included a red middle band between them. This red finish faded prematurely on many early

Single-Coil Pickups

examples, making many vintage Strats from 1958 to 1960 appear

The three narrow single-coil pickups that Leo and his team had

two-tone regardless, until a stronger, fade-resistant red tint came

developed for the prototype guitars at least a year before the

into use at Fender.

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 195

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 195 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 195

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 195

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1956 Blonde Stratocaster. Rumble Seat Music

THE STRATOCASTER: LAUNCHED

and Paris. Brown v. Board of Education makes segregation in U.S.

INTO THE STRATOSPHERE

public schools illegal. British athlete Roger Bannister runs the first

Added together, these simple—yet, revolutionary—ingredients

under-four-minute mile. NBC’s The Tonight Show first airs, with

paint the picture of the instrument that hit an unsuspecting music

host Steve Allen. Marlon Brando stars in two major hit movies,

world in mid-1954 and ascended steadily toward its soon dizzy-

On the Waterfront and The Wild Ones. America’s first jet airliner,

ing heights. It is impossible to comprehend today, with countless

the Boeing 707, takes its maiden flight. Swanson sells its first

Strat-a-likes available in the form of everything from sub-$100

TV dinner. The term “rock ’n’ roll” is only beginning to enter

imports to $10,000 luthier-grade recreations, just how new the

the lexicon, thanks in part to the release of the movie Blackboard

Stratocaster must have appeared in 1954 and what its impact

Jungle, featuring “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and the

must have been, both in look and in tone. This was a world that

Comets and the start of Elvis Presley’s recording career. Amid it all,

needed the Fender Stratocaster, but until it actually came along,

here comes the Fender Stratocaster: startling, radical, stylish, and

there was nothing remotely like it, either in the music world or in

entirely awe-inspiring, even in this fast-paced, future-now context.

pop culture in general.

For all its potential and invention, however, the Stratocaster

The economy and the culture were booming in the post–

didn’t set the guitar world ablaze overnight. After all, this was a

World War II, early–Cold War era of the early 1950s, yet by 1954

conservative crowd (for that matter, guitarists’ tastes, en masse,

so many of the revolutionary cultural and commercial develop-

still run to the conservative today), and Fender was still struggling

ments that would be commonplace by the end of the decade had

uphill for acceptance amid the traditional names of the industry.

yet to make their impact. Just imagine this world for a moment:

Keep in mind, too, that even large, traditional makers often had

The U.S. Navy commissions its first nuclear submarine. Hydrogen

their more adventurous efforts shot down by a wary buying public.

bomb tests are in full swing on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

Not only did Gibson’s radical Flying V and Explorer guitars fail to

The first organ transplants are carried out in hospitals in Boston

find any significant market, even in the rock ’n’ roll hotbed of the

196 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 196 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 196

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 196

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

late 1950s, but another of the three undeniable solidbody classics,

1955, and his second, a new ’57 Stratocaster, was stolen from the

the Les Paul, sold so poorly in its final years, 1958–60, that it was

band’s station wagon during a restaurant stop in St. Louis in April

dropped from the catalog and didn’t reappear for years.

1958; but the similar look of these, all in standard sunburst finish,

Fender had to work to establish the Stratocaster’s place in

helped to establish the model nationwide through his many TV

the guitarists’ lexicon. Several of Leo’s Western Swing test-bed

and concert appearances. By the late 1950s, about half a decade

buddies and their pals took up the cause with some gusto, and the

since its introduction, the Stratocaster was going strong and get-

Stratocaster, in its infancy, gained acceptance rather more steadily

ting stronger in virtually all genres of popular music. Even so, it

than had the Telecaster before it. Often, too, the early adopters

provides some perspective on the times to consider that few people

seemed to have been won over by the glamour of a custom finish—

today can name more than half a dozen prominent artists who

always a badge of honor on the country scene, to some extent—even

were regularly using a Stratocaster by the end of the decade—and

when no custom-colored Strats were yet officially available.

to consider, in that light, what a classic it already was and what a

Bill Carson was clearly delighted with the release of the new

legend it was on its way to becoming.

model he had given input on and was one of the first artists seen in print ads for the new product, proudly cradling his own early

WOODS EVOLVE: ASH TO ALDER,

custom-color Cimarron Red Stratocaster (which often looked

MAPLE TO ROSEWOOD

merely black in the monochrome photos). Eldon Shamblin, gui-

The Stratocaster’s specs didn’t change as much over its first few

tarist for Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, had virtually denied

years of production as did those of the Telecaster. We have already

the entire premise of the Telecaster when it was first presented

mentioned the change in plastics that occurred over the course of

to him, but he was an enthusiastic recipient of a gold-finished

the early production models of 1954. The next significant change

Stratocaster, a guitar that seems to have been either a late proto-

of spec came with the uptake of alder as a primary body wood

type or a very early production model, and probably something

in 1956, with ash remaining in use mainly in Blonde custom-

from that gray area in between.

colored Strats. Leo Fender was always concerned with consistency

Soon after, the Stratocaster sidestepped

and basic quality, and alder appeared a suitable substitute for the

successfully into rock ’n’ roll. Two of

more highly figured swamp ash, which was

Gene Vincent’s guitarists (we might call

getting more difficult to obtain in adequate

them “Cliff Gallup stand-ins”), Howard

supplies. While ash’s broad grain was still

Reed and Johnny Meeks, both played

readily apparent under the Telecaster’s

Stratocasters—and custom-color examples

standard blonde finish, and that of the few

at that, Black and Blonde models, respec-

blonde Strats, alder looked perfectly good

tively. But the Strat really landed in the

under a sunburst or opaque finish and was

hands of its first pop-idol frontman when

also easier to obtain in adequate supplies of

Buddy Holly took up a late 1954 or early

suitably light timber. The change did alter

1955 model at the start of his career and

the Stratocaster’s core tone somewhat, but

continued to play one until his death in

this was a sonic shift rather than a decline,

1959. He went through four or five gui-

as alder itself has many desirable sonic

tars in his short career. His first was stolen

properties (as discussed in more

from a tour bus in Michigan in

detail in Stratocaster Tone and Construction).

1956 Fender price list.

(continued on page 217)

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 197

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 197 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 197

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 197

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Bill Carson Country guitarist Bill Carson was one of Leo Fender’s favorite pickers and guitar testers. Here, Carson holds his 1954 Cimmaron Red Stratocaster with gold anodized pickguard.

T

he name “Bill Carson” might be best known by Fender fans today for its frequent appearance

in the written history of the development of the Stratocaster, but Carson was a true journeyman musician of the electric guitar and a significant name on the scene at the time. He undoubtedly played a significant role in bringing the Stratocaster into being, but he also deserves recognition for his musical career. Carson was born in Meridian, Oklahoma, in 1926 and was raised in Amarillo, Texas. He eventually followed the road to California that had lured so many “Okies” and Midwesterners to

198 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 198 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 198

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 198

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Bill Carson’s 1959 Fender Stratocaster. Christie’s Images/Bridgeman Images

Another promo shot of Bill Carson with his 1954 Strat.

the land of milk and honey—which was, in his case, the land of Western Swing. Shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles, Carson established himself as a reliable A-list sideman with a string of major acts on the scene, including Spade Cooley, Hank Thompson, Lefty Frizzell, Wade Ray, and others. At the time, the lap steel player was often the star

greeted by Leo Fender himself. The relationship that ensued found

of the guitar world, since that instrument had been a success to

Carson not only a Fender player, but soon a field-tester of guitars in

amplify before the solid-body Spanish guitar came along. As such,

development and an actual Fender employee. Carson first worked

Carson’s playing style and sound were closely aligned to the clean,

on the assembly line while maintaining his career as a gigging and

fluid, gliss-heavy approach of the steel players, and he often found

recording guitarist, then dialed back his musical career in 1957 to

work copping steel-style parts on guitar to double his session fees.

move up the ladder at Fender, first as a production supervisor, then

Back in the day, though, even that kind of work was barely enough

head of artist relations, and eventually sales manager. Bill Carson’s

to keep a musician afloat, and Carson, like so many others, needed

name has been established in Fender lore, however, largely for his

a solid “day job” to help sustain his playing. He found it as a byprod-

contributions to the design and development of the Stratocaster in

uct of his quest for a better instrument and forged a forty-year

1953 and 1954. Among the major new features that he is likely to

career as a result.

have influenced—in part, at least, if not wholly—were the inclusion

As legendary as the Fender of the early 1950s might seem to guitar

of a vibrato unit (Carson liked to use it, in conjunction with a volume

fans today, it was part of what was then a pretty small world. Carson

pedal, to fake pedal-steel sounds) and the comfort-contoured body.

was fond of telling the story of how he visited the Fullerton factory

Bill Carson worked at Fender well into his seventies, before passing

in 1951 in search of a Telecaster and an amp to go with it and was

away in 2006 at the age of eighty.

B I L L C A R S O N • 199

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 199 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 199

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 199

16/7/20 8:25 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Eldon Shamblin Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, circa 1950, with Eldon Shamblin cradling his grand Gibson ES-5 archtop in the days before he switched to his Stratocaster. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Eldon Shamblin’s 1954 Gold Stratocaster, serial number 0569. Ronny Proler (Anonymous Texas Collector); Photo by Dirk Bakker, Artbook

200 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 200 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 200

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 200

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

a job picking on a regular program with an Oklahoma City radio station. This exposure won him a seat with Dave Edwards’s Alabama Boys, playing an upbeat hybrid of country and jazz that became

L

eo Fender was a country music fan through and through, so

known as “Western Swing.” The band performed on KVOO radio

it’s little surprise that one of the first Stratocasters presented

station in Tulsa, where a cigar-chewing, hooting-and-hollering fid-

to an artist was given to a country picker. And considering that Bob

dler named Bob Wills was also building his reputation. “I was the

Wills and His Texas Playboys were about the hottest country band

first one out of the Alabama Boys to join the Wills band,” Shamblin

going circa 1954, it’s also no surprise that Leo gave the guitar to

remembered, “but they all gradually joined.”

Wills’s hot player, Eldon Shamblin.

Wills’s Texas Playboys was soon staffed by the best Western

Whether he was picking his original Gibson archtop or the

Swing players anywhere. The band prolifically toured and recorded,

futuristic Strat, Shamblin became hugely influential in Western

building Wills’s reputation as the King of Western Swing. Shamblin

Swing, country, and jazz. He helped create Wills’s sound, arranged

cowrote a number of the band’s classics, including “Twin Guitar

many of his most famous songs, such as the band’s trademark

Special” with steel-guitar maestro Leon McAuliffe.

tunes “San Antonio Rose” and “Faded Love,” and even man-

The 1954 Strat that Leo Fender presented to Shamblin was

aged the big band for a time. Fellow Texas Playboy Joe Ferguson

painted metallic gold, perhaps following the style of Gibson’s Les

crowned Shamblin “The Chord Wizard.” Years later, Rolling Stone

Paul goldtop. Serial number 0569 wore a neck dated June 1954.

named him “the world’s greatest rhythm guitar player.” Merle

But beyond the golden finish, the guitar was pretty much stock, not

Haggard, with whom Shamblin played in later years, wrote in his

even having gold-plated hardware. Shamblin remembered, “It was

1981 autobiography Sing Me Back Home, “Eldon’s guitar work is

pretty beaten up when I got it; must have been some demonstrator.”

so great that he can just stop everybody in their tracks.”

Shamblin added many miles and many a show to its history, using

Shamblin was born in Weatherford, Oklahoma, on April 24, 1916. He taught himself to play as a teenager, and in 1934, he got

the golden guitar the rest of his life. —Michael Dregni

E L D O N S H A M B L I N • 201

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 201 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 201

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 201

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Pee Wee Crayton

2009 Custom Shop 1958 Candy Apple Red Stratocaster with gold-anodized pickguard, inspired by Pee Wee Crayton’s guitar. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Crayton’s 1960 Crown LP featured his custom-color Strat front and center.

S

winging bluesman Pee Wee Crayton’s 1955 recording of “The Telephone Is Ringing” on Vee-Jay 214 just may be the premiere recording of a

Stratocaster. Whether it was indeed the first or not—we may never know— the song showcased a tone like no other record before. Crayton played his big bends and bluesy pentatonic riffs, punctuated by shimmering ninth chords, with a unique, biting sound. The tone was unlike that of T-Bone Walker’s archtop Gibson ES-5, with its woody, out-of-phase-pickup voice, or Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown’s snarling Fender Esquire. It was a sound all its own. Connie Curtis Crayton was Texas-born and influenced primarily by Texan guitar slingers, such as Walker and jazzman Charlie Christian. He began by emulating T-Bone, playing his jazz-inflected blues licks on a big archtop Gibson before he was given a Stratocaster and a tweed Twin amp by the factory, likely in 1954. No one seems to remember the circumstances behind the present—how, where, or when Leo Fender or anyone else from the factory met Crayton. In fact, as Leo was a staunch country music fan, his giving such an early and special Strat to a bluesman seems odd in retrospect.

202 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 202 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 202

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 202

16/7/20 8:30 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Looking sharp in a sharkskin suit and toting his red Strat with gold-anodized pickguard, Pee Wee Crayton was ready to take on his archrival, T-Bone Walker, in a battle of the jump blues kings.

Crayton’s “The Telephone Is Ringing” on VeeJay featured one of the first—if not the first—recorded Strats. The tone is unmistakable.

Nevertheless, Crayton’s gift was one of the first

Crayton signed on with Modern

Strats given to a musician by Fender, alongside the

Records in 1948, playing T-Bone-

golden ’54 given to Eldon Shamblin. Crayton’s Strat was

inspired jump blues. One of his

painted a bright red hue, a color some have suggested

earliest sides was the instrumen-

was a Studebaker car color. Crayton’s Strat featured a

tal, “Blues After Hours,” which hit number one on the

gold-anodized metal pickguard in place of the typical

Billboard R&B chart. In the 1950s, he cut sides for other labels,

Bakelite plastic pickguard. The rest of its features toed the line with production Strats, including the chromeplated hardware rather than the special gold plating.

including T-Bone’s home, Imperial, as well as Jamie and Vee-Jay. Crayton was often pictured with the special Strat in hand, Crayton himself usually wearing a lean, shiny sharkskin suit, the

Crayton had moved from Texas to California during the

consummate bluesman. He cradled it on the cover of his early

Depression years of the 1930s, and that’s where he started seri-

eponymous Crown LP in 1960 and still held the guitar on the 1971

ously playing guitar. He was often known as T-Bone Walker Jr., a

Vanguard album, Things I Used to Do. During the years in between,

name that was somewhat derisive, but also of prime promotional

Crayton’s Strat had obviously been well used, the red paint chipped

benefit. In later years, he and the real T-Bone shared the bills in

away, the neck and headstock smoke- and time-darkened. —Michael Dregni

hard-fought fret wars.

P E E W E E C R AY T O N • 203

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 203 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 203

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 203

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Mary Kaye

Guitar magazine in 2006, “While in Chicago, we hooked up with Billy

M

Burton, who became our manager. He brought us to the Frontier ary Kaye—the guitarist whose name became synonymous

Hotel in Vegas. . . . While playing our first gig in the main show-

with the beautiful Blonde Stratocaster highlighted by golden

room of the Frontier, we were asked to stay over after our four-week

hardware—never actually owned a Mary Kaye. Fender promised

engagement had ended. Without a room to go to, I suggested a stage

her the guitar she’s holding in the catalog and promotional photos

be built in the bar area and it could be called a ‘lounge.’ Jack Kozloff,

and played in the 1956 film Cha-Cha-Cha Boom!, but the guitar

the owner, and Eddie Fox, the general manager, had it constructed

remained in Fender’s hands. This wrong was finally righted in

immediately. During its first week of operation, Frank Sinatra and

2002 when Fender presented Kaye with a one-and-only Custom

friends dropped $120,000 on the tables during what became known

Shop Stratocaster christened the White Beauty and bearing serial

as the ‘dusk til dawn’ hours. This impressed the other hotels to

number MK001.

the point where they began to stay open twenty-four hours. . . .

For much of her career, Kaye was actually a D’Angelico player.

Hotels began hunting for entertainers to fill their newly constructed

Her full surname was Ka’aihue, which she also recorded and played

lounges. Not all entertainment worked, but smaller, tight-knit groups

under before switching to the stage name “Kaye.” Her father was Hawai’ian royalty; her mother a Detroit socialite. From that background, Kaye became one of the first Las Vegas lounge acts.

were working out better than the big bands of that time.” In Vegas, Kaye was introduced to Fender sales maestro Don Randall: “Around 1954, Don brought me a Fender guitar—not the

Kaye began her professional career playing in her father’s

Strat—to play onstage. Though I refused to play it, Don started

band, before starting the Mary Kaye Trio. As she told Vintage

bringing me Fender amps to use with my D’Angelicos. In ’55, Fender

204 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 204 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 204

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 204

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1957 Mary Kaye Stratocaster. Rumble Seat Music

“It was a small mom-and-pop shop, like a carpenter’s factory, with the floor covered in the day’s wood debris. It was what I had expected. I was greeted by Leo Fender himself; he was very nice.”

—Mary Kaye on visiting the Fender factory, circa 1955

Mary Kaye holds the Mary Kaye—a Blonde Stratocaster with gold hardware that she was loaned by Fender for this photo shoot. Then she had to give the guitar back.

The photograph that launched a legend, appearing in Fender catalogs and ads in 1956–57.

M A R Y K AY E • 205

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 205 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 205

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 205

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Mary Kaye

Mary Kaye played the original Mary Kaye Strat for a sequence in the 1956 film Cha-Cha-Cha Boom! but then had to hand it back to Fender, again.

delivered the Blonde Strat to me, prior to the Trio going onstage at the Frontier Hotel, for the famous publicity shot, taken backstage. [The guitar] was returned to Fender later that evening. “Six months later, Billy, our manager, set up an arrangement with Fender to let me use the Blonde Stratocaster in a Columbia movie [Cha-Cha-Cha Boom!], and again it was returned to Fender.” Thanks to those publicity photos and movie appearance, the rare Blonde Stratocasters crowned by gold hardware have been referred to ever after as Mary Kayes. As Kaye herself said, “I remember Billy was upset that the guitar was returned to Fender after Leo Fender had promised it to me. We were too busy with the Trio’s career to ever look back and correct the mistake.” And Kaye was too busy picking her beloved D’Angelicos. Although Kaye might not have gotten that original Mary Kaye Strat, Randall did keep her supplied with free Fender amps throughout her life. —Michael Dregni

206 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 206 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 206

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 206

16/7/20 5:04 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

2006 Mary Kaye Tribute Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

M A R Y K AY E • 207

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 207 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 207

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 207

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Ike Turner

Ike Turner plays his Strat with his Kings of Rhythm in 1956. In the back row, from left, Jackie Brenston, Raymond Hill, Eddie Jones, Fred Sample, and Billy Gayles. Front row, from left, Jesse Knight Jr., Turner, and Eugene Washington. Gilles Petard Collection/Redferns/Getty Images

With saxman Jackie Brenston singing, Turner’s Kings of Rhythm recorded one of the first—if not the first—rock ’n’ roll songs of all time, “Rocket 88,” at Memphis’s Sun Studios. The song was licensed to Chicago’s Chess Records for release in April 1951.

I

ke Turner was not one of the Kings of Rhythm, as his longtime band was known. He was the king. Rechristening the band “Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats” for

a session at the Memphis Sun Studios in 1951, he cut “Rocket 88,”

circa 1955–56 show Ike armed

often tagged as one of the first rock ’n’ roll songs. Ever. With Annie

with an early sunburst Stratocaster.

Mae Bullock—renamed for the stage as Tina Turner—he launched

From the early days of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, Ike was

his Revue, shaking up the 1960s with a rafters-rattling blend of

toting the Strat that he made famous: a Sonic Blue guitar with rose-

rock, R&B, and soul. Ike’s career was often controversial, but

wood fretboard that was believed to date from 1961. He played that

throughout his life he made phenomenal music.

guitar and other Strats for the rest of his career.

Ike was also one of the first—if not the first—bluesmen to

Ike was born in 1931 in the heart of the Mississippi Delta in the

take up the Strat. Photographs of the Kings of Rhythm dated

county-seat town of Clarksdale. He was hardened early in life when

208 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 208 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 208

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 208

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

he witnessed his Baptist minister father beaten and left for dead by a mob of white men. His mother remarried a violent alcoholic, who beat the young boy until Ike knocked him out with a piece of

With Tina Turner fronting the Kings of Rhythm and Ike Turner playing what became his trademark Sonic Blue Strat, R&B would never be the same again. Here, they perform in Dallas, Texas, in 1962. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

wood and ran away to Memphis. Ike began playing piano and guitar, forming the Kings of Rhythm in high school; he kept the name of the band throughout his career. Along with playing across the South, Ike became a music scout.

James Brown, he was domineering and demanding of his Kings

He brought B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf to the attention of Sam

of Rhythm, not settling for less than music perfection and thrilling

Phillips at Sun Records, who first recorded them and leased the

showmanship.

sides to the Bihari brothers’ Modern Records in Los Angeles. Ike

Playing that Sonic Blue Strat, Ike would intermix chords, riffs,

himself recorded in the 1950s and 1960s for Modern, Chess, Flair,

and bass lines, much like a piano player. As Ike’s then-guitarist

and Mississippi’s local label, Trumpet. With the Revue, he graduated

in the Kings of Rhythm, Seth Blumberg, detailed, “His life is the

to larger labels, including Sue, Blue Thumb, and eventually, United

rhythm—that’s why his band is called the Kings of Rhythm. . . . Ike’s

Artists. Together, he and Tina won two Grammys and were nomi-

all about energy, and he says, ‘I don’t wanna hear that mama-papa

nated for three others.

two and four. It makes me tired. You got to lay it down, man. Don’t

Ike’s personality came through in his guitar sound: a biting tone and a driving sense of rhythm that propelled his band. Like

step around it—you got to step in it.’” —Michael Dregni

I K E T U R N E R • 209

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 209 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 209

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 209

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Buddy Guy

T

here’s no better example of supercharged, hard-blowing,

for fashion and performance. The Polka Dot Stratocaster follows

electric Chicago blues than Buddy Guy. His guitars of choice—

classic Strat lines, with an alder body and all-maple neck, vintage-

and the amps he plays them through, for that matter—are staples

style vibrato, five-way switch, and single-volume and dual-tone

of the bluesman’s toolbox. As simple as these ingredients may be,

controls (for neck and middle pickup only), but its pickups gain a

they are capable of producing no end of firepower when used with

little extra poke courtesy of their ceramic magnets. The second of

attitude. Although Guy has occasionally strutted his stuff with Guild

Guy’s Fender signature models, the high-end Artist Series Buddy

Starfire semi-acoustics, he is far and away best known for his use

Guy Stratocaster, changes the alder body for ash, the ceramic-

of Fender Stratocasters and has played plenty of examples of this

magnet pickups for three Lace Sensor Golds, and adds a mid-boost

legendary model throughout his career. For decades, Guy wielded

to the guitar’s electrics. Both aim to offer classic Strat playability

vintage 1950s Strats with maple fingerboards, but in later years

and versatility, but to hit the amp harder than many bluesmen might

Fender issued not one but two Buddy Guy signature models.

seek to do.

The Fender Buddy Guy Standard Polka Dot Stratocaster

Guy’s amps deserve some consideration in their own right, as

expresses his desires in a modified Strat, as well as his flair

does the way in which he uses them. Throughout his early career,

210 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 210 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 210

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 210

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The passing of the torch: Buddy Guy plays his guitar on stage in 1962, showing Eric Clapton the wonders of the Strat. Clapton’s loyalties would soon shift to Fender, resulting in his playing Brownie and Blackie for the next several decades. David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images

B U D D Y G U Y • 211

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 211 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 211

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 211

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Buddy Guy

Guy preferred a model that can lay claim to the tag “ultimate blues amp of all time”: a late 1950s Fender Tweed 5F6-A Bassman. Purportedly, he played these 4x10-inch

Buddy Guy’s 1958 Stratocaster. Rick Gould

combos with all knobs wound up toward max, save the bass tone control, which he kept down low. Like most artists with his sort of longevity in the business, Guy has diversified his arsenal over the years. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Guy often played a Victoria 45410 (a hand-wired reproduction of a Bassman) and has lately endorsed the Buddy Guy Signature Series Amp from Chicago Blues Box, which is modeled specifically on Guy’s own favorite ’59 Bassman. Between guitar and amp, Guy has often favored a Crybaby wah pedal, a duty now performed by the Jim Dunlop Crybaby Buddy Guy Signature Wah—in black with white polka dots, naturally. As with most guitar stars, though, it’s not so much the ingredients as the way the artist attacks them that accounts for the hot, stinging tone. And into his eighties and counting, Buddy Guy still hit those strings hard.

212 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 212 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 212

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 212

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

2004 Buddy Guy Polka Dot Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

B U D D Y G U Y • 213

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 213 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 213

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 213

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly picks his Strat on stage in March 1958. Harry Hammond/V&A Images/Getty Images

B

eaming out from photos with his thick-rimmed glasses and the bright smile of a schoolboy on picture day, Buddy Holly might not appear like much of a rebel. But

Holly was nothing less than a rock ’n’ roll revolutionary, with a knack for innovation in just about everything he did. In an age when recording artists were still largely packaged by record company execs and backed by studio house bands and Tin Pan Alley songwriters, Buddy Holly and the Crickets established a template that would define

214 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 214 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 214

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 214

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

the genuine rock artist: they wrote

that he acquired to replace it,

their own songs, played their own

however—purchased hurriedly in

recording dates, and—with the aid of

Detroit in time to make the show that

an occasional sideman—took it all out

evening—is possibly the most recognizable of all of the four or five Strats Holly

on the road, too. Holly’s playing was likewise innovative, blending chunky rhythm and high-string lead work in a style that owed an equal tip of the hat to country, R&B, and

owned. Another two-tone sunburst model with maple fingerboard, it appears in several popular photos of Holly performing in 1957 and 1958 and is notable

rockabilly (and to his predecessor, Bo Diddley, among others). Amid

for the wear that soon developed in the covers of the middle and

all this avant-garde behavior, his guitar choice was radical, too:

neck pickups just below the high E string.

While other heroes on the burgeoning rock ’n’ roll scene were play-

This iconic 1957 Stratocaster accompanied Holly on many of

ing Gretsches or big-bodied Gibson archtops, Holly—with a loan

his most prominent performances of the time and certainly helped

from his brother Larry—purchased a new Fender Stratocaster, a

to establish Fender’s modernistic new model as a standard of solid-

guitar that had been designed for country players and released onto

body design. It was played on appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show

the market just a year before. In doing so, Holly (born Charles Hardin

and The Arthur Murray Dance Party and traveled to the U.K. with

Holley) also became the first household name in popular music to

Holly for his historic British tour. In April 1958, Holly lost yet another

perform regularly on a Stratocaster.

Stratocaster when the 1957 instrument was stolen from the band’s

Holly played his first Stratocaster, a late-1954 or early-1955

station wagon during a stop at a restaurant in St. Louis, Missouri.

model, for about two years and used it to record his first hits, includ-

The star acquired two or three more Strats before his death in 1959,

ing “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue,” before it was stolen from

one of the last of which is on display at the Buddy Holly Center in his

a tour bus in Michigan in the fall of 1957. The 1957 Stratocaster

hometown of Lubbock, Texas.

B U D D Y H O L LY • 215

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 215 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 215

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 215

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1958 Fiesta Red Stratocaster. Outline Press Ltd.

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 216 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 216

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 216

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

(continued from page 197)

instruments, and therefore make for easier acceptance in corners

Although it’s less obvious at a glance, the Stratocaster’s neck

that were still reticent to embrace the “plank.” Simultaneously,

profile evolved rather steadily throughout the 1950s, too, par-

it would do away with the detrimental image of the smudged,

allel to that of the Telecaster. The chunky, rounded C shape of

poorly wearing maple fingerboards that were showing up by

the early necks segued into a beefy V profile in 1955, which

this time, nearly ten years into the life of the Telecasters and five

slimmed down through 1956 and 1957, then flattened into a

years after the Stratocaster’s arrival. The rosewood fingerboards

slim, then slimmer, C shape as 1958 rolled into 1959 and 1960.

brought a new look to the Stratocaster, as well as other Fenders,

From around mid-1959 to mid-1961 or so the Stratocaster’s neck

and served as a dividing line between the guitars of the 1950s and

shape reflected a contemporary predilection for extremely thin

those of the early 1960s.

necks, which were considered “fast” at the time. Interestingly,

For about the first two and a half years, these separate finger-

many Gibson electrics, notably the Les Paul and SG, were given

boards were sawn with a flat underside and glued to a flat-neck

similarly thin necks over roughly the same time period.

face, a style that has since been dubbed the “slab board” for its

Alongside the change in neck profiles, the shape and depth

thick, flat-bottomed appearance. Partway through 1962 Fender

of the Stratocaster body’s ribcage and forearm contours evolved

introduced the practice of radiusing the face of the maple neck

slightly. Earlier guitars tended to have a greater depth and a

as well as both sides of the fingerboard, which enabled the use

more prominent overall curve to these areas, whereas the con-

of a thinner piece of rosewood and created what is now often

tours flattened out slightly through the early 1960s and into the

referred to as a “laminated” or “round-lam” fingerboard. (By

middle of the decade. Since these contours were both rough-cut

request from the mid-1960s, and as an official option from 1967,

and finished by hand—cut first on the bandsaw following a line

maple fingerboards would again be available, but until 1969 such

of a prescribed angle, then sanded smooth—they always varied

necks were made much like the rosewood fingerboards, with a

somewhat anyway, but their depth over time tended to follow a

separately milled piece of maple glued to the face of the neck, a

trajectory toward the more shallow.

construction now known as a “maple cap” neck.)

As the end of the decade approached, a more noticeable

Along with the rosewood fingerboard came off-white “clay”

change was visited on the neck of the Stratocaster. A new Fender

position-marker dots, which have come to represent another

model, the Jazzmaster, brought a rosewood fingerboard to the

of the hallmarks of the pre-CBS Stratocaster. These were first

Fender stable when it was introduced at the 1958 summer

inlaid in the same size and pattern as the black plastic dots that

NAMM show, proving a successful test subject for a change that

preceded them on maple fingerboards, namely with a wider

would hit the Stratocaster and Telecaster midway through 1959.

spacing between the two twelfth-fret dots. In the latter half

Several reasons might have been behind the change of finger-

of 1963, the two twelfth-fret dots were moved slightly closer

board woods, and indeed the true motivation might have been

together. Another appointment change that accompanied the

a combination of several or all of them. It’s likely that Fender

rosewood fingerboard was the new three-ply pickguard mounted

felt the more traditional looking and feeling neck was a neces-

with eleven screws, replacing the single-ply white plastic guard

sity on any guitar with pretensions toward jazz—the Jazzmaster’s

mounted with eight screws. Ostensibly white with a black cen-

original target market—and with any hopes of appealing to the

ter layer, the new guard was made from celluloid (a.k.a. nitrate)

more traditional musicians who played it. It seems that many

and had a slight greenish tint.

Fender dealers, however, and hence the reps at Fender Sales, had

Add them together and these minor alterations in the

been inquiring about the availability of a rosewood ’board on

formula—the rosewood fingerboard, clay dots, and “green

the Tele and Strat for some time, and for reasons of their own.

guard”—are the obvious signs of guitars from the final era of

The darker neck would ally Fender guitars with more traditional

the pre-CBS Stratocaster, which ran from around mid-1959

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 217

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 217 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 217

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 217

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

to mid-1964. (Although the clay dots and celluloid pickguard

• Surf Green

weren’t replaced until early 1965, with pearloid and plastic respec-

• Inca Silver Metallic

tively, a change of headstock decal to the new-styled “Fender”

• Fiesta Red

logo in late summer 1964 tends to mark the end of the pre-CBS

• Dakota Red

era for many collectors.)

• Shell Pink

DETROIT-STYLE FLASH

An additional option, not listed on the chart but men-

COMES TO FULLERTON

tioned in its caption, was the Tele-like Blonde finish, which

Something that gets collectors even more hot and bothered than

was almost invariably applied over an ash body. In 1963, Shell

these several alterations of the late 1950s is the increased uptake

Pink was dropped and Candy Apple Red Metallic added. Two

of the custom color program at Fender. Custom colors were offi-

years later, in 1965, Daphne Blue, Shoreline Gold Metallic,

cially available from 1957, and as we have seen, several notable

Burgundy Mist Metallic, Sherwood Green Metallic, Surf Green,

players had requested truly custom paint jobs right from the start

and Inca Silver Metallic were also dropped, replaced by Blue

of the Stratocaster’s availability. But the changing musical and social styles of the late 1950s seemed to bring with them a greater demand for less-traditional guitar finishes, and the production of Stats in a range of custom colors increased considerably from the end of that decade and into the early and mid-’60s. Relatively few custom colors other than Blonde, Fiesta Red, and Shoreline Gold were seen before 1960, and even those are extremely rare (and therefore highly collectible). The first actual chart of custom colors was produced in 1960 and included fourteen official paint options plus Blonde, each of which could be ordered through a Fender dealer at a 5 percent premium on the guitar’s list price. It was money well spent if you hung onto the guitar for several decades: A custom color on a pre-CBS Stratocaster can today add as much as 50 percent to the value of the guitar, as compared to another Stratocaster in sunburst from the same year and in similar condition. Included on the official 1960 Custom Finishes chart were those listed below: • Lake Placid Blue Metallic • Daphne Blue • Sonic Blue • Shoreline Gold Metallic • Olympic White • Burgundy Mist Metallic • Black • Sherwood Green Metallic • Foam Green

1962 Foam Green Stratocaster. Rumble Seat Music

218 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 218 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 218

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 218

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Ice Metallic, Firemist Gold Metallic, Charcoal Frost Metallic, Ocean Turquoise Metallic, Teal Green Metallic, and Firemist Silver Metallic. In what seemed quite a natural rock ’n’ roll tie-in, most of these colors equated with paints used by one or another Detroit automaker from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, and Fender’s custom-colored guitars could see their twins in cars made by Pontiac, Chevrolet, Ford, Cadillac, Lincoln, Buick, Mercury, Oldsmobile, and Desoto.

1963 Blue Sparkle Stratocaster. Garrett Tung/Boingosaurus Music

Most custom colors were ordered by customers via local dealers, so guitars weren’t always built from the ground up with that particular option in mind. As a result, many were finished in the standard sunburst before being shot with a custom-color coat and sent on their way, unbeknownst to their new owners. Over time, playing wear imposed on some custom-color Strats occasionally reveals a fresh undercoat of vibrant sunburst, even if the guitar is officially and entirely originally a “custom-color Stratocaster.” Meanwhile, the color of the standard sunburst finish was liv-

1964 Fiesta Red Stratocaster. Chicago Music Exchange, www.chicagomusicexchange.com

ened up in mid-1959, along with so many other changes. Roughly from the start, the standard procedure had been to spray the sanded body in a clear primer coat to seal and fill the grain (using a product called Fullerplast from 1963 onward), then dip it in a vat of yellow stain, then spray the edges in black lacquer to create the original two-tone sunburst look before hitting it with a lacquer clear-coat. In 1959 Fender added a red band between the black and the yellow stain visible toward the center of the guitar, but on many early examples this pigment faded severely over time and exposure to light, leaving guitars that looked much like they had only received twotone finishes. From the early 1960s, though, Fender found a

1964 Olympic White Stratocaster. Chicago Music Exchange, www.chicagomusicexchange.com

red that would better withstand exposure and survive the rigors of time, creating a more prominent threetone sunburst (and one that, when sprayed a little too boldly toward the mid-1960s, rendered some gaudy “bull’s-eye burst” guitars that were a little less appealing to collectors as a result). (continued on page 226)

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 219

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 219 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 219

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 219

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Dick Dale

2004 Dick Dale Signature Chartreuse Sparkle Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Dick Dale and His Del-Tones played music by surfers for surfers—and they wanted it loud. Armed with a piggyback Fender Showman and his trademark Fender Stratocaster, a.k.a. “the Beast,” Dale and his band rocked coastal California ballrooms and school gymnasiums. Here, they play at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, California.

A

rguments about who originated surf guitar continue to rage, but for pure kinetic energy, few would argue with crowning Dick Dale the “King of

the Surf Guitar.” Dale enjoyed a career resurgence after his signature tune, the Eastern-inflected “Misirlou,” was featured prominently in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction, but from late 1959 to early 1961 Dale (born Richard Monsour) and His Del-Tones packed the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, California (and for a time after that, the Pasadena Civic Auditorium), with upward of 3,000 to 4,000 young patrons nearly every weekend night of the year. To satisfy their lust for action, he generated furious levels of energy—and copious amounts of sheer volume— to translate surfing’s extreme physical experience into a representative musical performance. The need to satisfy such vast crowds with the volume

220 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 220 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 220

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 220

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

and power that the music demanded meant that he also became one of the first proponents of the entire rig, and arguably the first artist to front a truly arena-worthy backline. Fender’s Jazzmaster and Jaguar have come to be known as classic surf guitars, alongside the Mosrites that other artists, most notably the Ventures, also gravitated toward, but Dick Dale played a Stratocaster from the outset of his professional career and stuck with it for more than fifty years. Having started out as an aspiring

sound, although it was not always thus. In order to broadcast his

country singer and guitarist, Dale was drawn to the Strat shortly

big sound to the big crowds he was drawing, Dale used his budding

before solidifying his stance as a surf guitarist. As a left-hander, he

relationship with Leo Fender to acquire a suitable amp. Accounts

played the guitar strung “upside down,” the way many lefties would

of how much input the guitarist himself had on the development of

approach the instrument upon flipping over a right-handed guitar.

the Showman amp vary greatly (with Dale’s own recollections often

After initially being given a right-handed Stratocaster by Leo Fender

putting him right there at the drawing board), but the powerful new

in the late 1950s and told to “beat it to death,” as Dale recalled, he

Fender model, introduced in the new Blonde Tolex covering in 1960,

moved over to left-handed Strats (most notably a chartreuse metal-

was undoubtedly designed specifically to belt the young surfing gui-

flake example known as “The Beast”), but continued to string the

tarist’s music to the masses.

guitar with the low E on the bottom.

As wet as the surf sound eventually became, however, Dale’s

Other than this quirk, Dale’s use of a Strat for the bright, cut-

first hit single, “Let’s Go Trippin’,” his entire first album, Surfer’s

ting tones of surf guitar really isn’t all that unusual. The model is

Choice, and his legendary early Rendezvous Ballroom shows were

designed to excel in these tones just as much as the Jaguar and

all performed sans reverb. Once the Fender Reverb Unit hit the

Jazzmaster. The bigger part of Dale’s sonic revolution came in his

streets in early 1962, though, with prototypes having been road-

amp of choice and his promotion of that super-wet, reverb-laden

tested by Dale, there was no turning back from the big splash.

D I C K D A L E • 221

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 221 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 221

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 221

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The Ventures

The Ventures were all Fender—until they switched to Mosrites, of course. Don Wilson gets happy with his Stratocaster while Bob Bogle strums a Jazzmaster and Nokie Edwards holds his bass. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

D

on Wilson and Bob Bogle were Seattle masonry workers who played some guitar after hours just for fun. In 1958, they decided to put

together a band, which they humbly named the Versatones before changing their moniker to the Ventures. Their guitar-driven instrumental tunes were almost instant radio-friendly hits, and even though neither Wilson nor Bogle surfed, their songs soon became a soundtrack to the surfer world, along with cuts by Dick Dale, the Surfaris, and others. In 1960, they recorded a hopped-up version of “Walk Don’t Run.” The song had been penned by guitarist Johnny Smith and recorded by Chet Atkins, but it was the Ventures’ version that became a

222 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 222 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 222

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 222

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

mammoth hit. Still, the group didn’t really hit their stride until bassist Nokie Edwards moved over to guitar duties in 1962, with Bogle taking up the bass. They went on to sell more than 110 million albums and log a whopping thirty-seven albums on the Billboard charts. In a short time, they had become the world’s biggest-selling guitar instrumental act. Early on, the Ventures played Fender guitars, crafting their trebly, twangy sound with Stratocasters, Jazzmasters, and Precision Basses. On many of their album covers and singles picture sleeves, they were pictured proudly toting those Fender products, such as on The Ventures, Bobby Vee Meets the Ventures, and The Colorful Ventures. Their sound and their songs provided inspiration for many a youth yearning to learn guitar to save his paper-route money for a Strat. Ironically, Fender never quite realized what a good thing it had in the Ventures. The company let a huge promotional opportunity

of the Ventures model Mosrite guitars and basses, and the line was officially released in 1963. The band’s name and popularity helped put Mosrite on the map.

slip through its corporate fingers and into the grasp of the minus-

Still, the earliest Ventures classics all boasted that Fender sound.

cule guitar-making firm of Mosrite. Shortly after his move to guitar,

The Ventures were often credited as “The Band That Launched a

Edwards borrowed an early Joe Maphis model from Mosrite founder

Thousand Bands,” and their use of Strats and Jazzmasters launched

Semie Moseley to test out in the studio, and he was hooked. Before

many thousands of Fender fans.

the end of 1962, Edwards, Bogle, and Wilson began using prototypes

—Michael Dregni

T H E V E N T U R E S • 223

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 223 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 223

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 223

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Hank Marvin

Hank Marvin’s 1959 Stratocaster with gold hardware, the first Strat imported directly into England. The guitar has since been restored. Outline Press Ltd.

Hank Marvin and the Shadows, with one of Marvin’s famous red Strats in the foreground.

M

ost of the early stars of the electric guitar were American musicians, an understandable phenomenon given rock ’n’ roll’s birth on the left side

of the Atlantic and a U.K. ban on U.S. imports through much of the 1950s that deprived British musicians of American-made guitars. Shortly before this embargo was lifted in 1960, though, Hank Marvin received a guitar that became famous as the first Stratocaster owned by an English guitarist. It was brought into the country by singer Cliff Richard, whom Marvin backed in the Shadows. Marvin was already on his way to stardom by this time, thanks to the Shadows’ early instrumental hits, but with red Strat in hand the lanky, bespectacled guitarist forged a more recognizable

224 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 224 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 224

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 224

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

identity on both sides of the pond and went on to become one of the most influential early British rock ’n’ rollers. With hits split nearly fifty-fifty between Shadows’ instrumental releases and vocal numbers recorded as Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Marvin was at the forefront of sixty-nine British Top 40 chart singles, a number that includes a whopping twelve number one hits. The most seminal of these, the classic “Apache” among them, were laid down with his

a Telecaster, but by this time it didn’t matter—the Strat was the

’59 Stratocaster.

guitar for him.

Marvin’s acquisition of said Strat involves a now-famous case of

And what a fortuitous error it was. The Stratocaster’s bright,

mistaken identity. A fan of James Burton’s work with Ricky Nelson,

well-defined sound, and its versatile vibrato system in partic-

Marvin discovered that Burton played a Fender, but he didn’t know

ular, became a major part of Marvin’s playing style. He used the

precisely what model. While perusing a catalog in 1959 with his

vibrato bar on just about everything he played, applying it to subtle

front man Richards, Marvin spotted a red Stratocaster with gold-

tremulous wiggles and deeper, emotive bends that evoked a rich,

plated hardware. “I decided that had to be the model he played,”

atmospheric tone through the tape echo unit he used between the

Marvin told this writer in a 1994 interview for Teletext, “because

guitar and Vox AC15 amplifier (later an AC30). All told, this setup

it was the most expensive one, and I figured James Burton must

established a sound that Pete Townshend, Mark Knopfler, and even

play the top model.” An upcoming trip that Richards was making

Frank Zappa have acknowledged as a major influence.

to the United States afforded Marvin the chance to acquire a guitar

Marvin’s original ’59 Stratocaster is now in the possession of

just like the one in the catalog with which he had become besotted.

Shadows bandmate Bruce Welch, although Hank has continued to

Weeks later the singer returned with red Strat in hand. Marvin didn’t

play Strats—alongside the occasional Burns guitar—throughout

discover until a short while later that James Burton actually played

his career.

H A N K M A R V I N • 225

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 225 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 225

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 225

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1965 Stratocasters in Ice Blue Metallic, Dakota Red, Shoreline Gold, and Charcoal Frost Metallic. Rumble Seat Music

(continued from page 219)

plenty of memorable work on a sunburst 1956 Stratocaster, and Buddy Guy laid down some even more aggressive licks on

A PROLIFERATION OF PLAYERS

his own late-1950s model (performances that a sheepish Chess

The Stratocaster’s early acceptance among some of the more

records generally failed to capture in the day, feeling Guy’s aggres-

adventurous country players on the West Coast is fairly well doc-

sive live style needed to be tamed for the studio).

umented, and we have already seen how it segued from there into

Perhaps unexpectedly, though, the most creative early use of

the rock ’n’ roll and rockabilly scenes. The Strat had yet to rock

the Stratocaster’s versatile vibrato unit in a pop-music context

heavily, though—or as heavily as it would eventually be known

arguably occurred on the other side of the pond. In 1959, Hank

for—nearly a full decade into its existence, although several blues

Marvin of the Shadows received what is widely considered to

players were perhaps giving it a serious workout. B.B. King did

be the first Stratocaster brought into the United Kingdom. The

226 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 226 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 226

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 226

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Fiesta Red Strat with gold hardware was brought to him by Cliff

THE STRAT SLIDES SOUTHWARD UNDER CBS

Richard (a singing star with whom the Shadows performed as

In a deal that had been pursued at least as early as mid-1964 and

backing band, in addition to logging several hits as an instrumen-

negotiated throughout the latter part of that year, Fender Musical

tal outfit), and quickly became a major part of Marvin’s sound.

Instruments was officially sold to Columbia Broadcasting

Blending proto-surf and twangy pop stylings, Marvin’s riffs were

System Inc. (CBS) on January 5, 1965. For most diehard Fender

peppered with emotive vibrato bends and trills, and made a real

aficionados, CBS’s acquisition of Fender serves as a turning

feature of Leo’s marvelous “Synchronized Tremolo.”

point for the start of a noticeable decline—at first gradual, then

Back in the United States, while Fender’s Jazzmaster—and

more pronounced—in the quality of Fender guitars. As such,

soon, Jaguar—would be more heavily associated with the surf

the term “pre-CBS” has come to stand as an identifier of the

scene, Dick Dale was laying down seminal surf riffs played by

more valuable and collectible vintage Stratocasters (and other

surfers, for surfers, on a gold 1959 Stratocaster dubbed “the

Fenders), with post-CBS indicating less desirable later examples.

Beast,” given to him by Leo himself. Otherwise, in addition to

To be fair, though, the quality of the instruments certainly wasn’t

thriving in the genres in which it was conceived, the Stratocaster

impacted the second the ink dried on the contract, or even

was proliferating on the pop-rock scene in the early 1960s, but

for several years after. Fender, under CBS, continued to pro-

would prove a tool of even more adventurous artists a little later

duce plenty of excellent Stratocasters for some time, although

in the decade. Even so, Stratocaster sales declined slightly in the

the days—or years—were numbered, and the change of owner

early mid-1960s, a fact likely attributable to the plethora of com-

pointed toward a future where the Strat would one day be but a

petition at the peak of the guitar boom, both from other makers

shadow of its original self.

and from other Fender models. Bob Dylan’s use of a Stratocaster in his infamous “gone electric” moment at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965

The thicker, more modern-looking Fender logo that had begun to appear on Stratocaster headstocks in late summer 1964 is often considered the first sign of the post-

marked it as a rebel, but it was Jimi Hendrix

CBS guitars, even though the sale of Fender to

who took that image over the top, sonically

CBS had not yet been completed, and the gui-

as much as visually, with his groundbreaking

tars themselves—other than the change of that

playing as a solo artist in 1967 and beyond.

thin, water-slide decal—were much the same

Where the heaviest players in rock so far had

as they had been earlier in the year, in a firmly

mostly rediscovered Gibson’s discontinued

pre-CBS era. The new logo, initially a bold gold

Les Paul Standard with humbucking pick-

logo within a thin black outline, was joined by

ups, Hendrix showed what the Stratocaster’s

a broader headstock shape at the end of 1965,

crystalline single-coil pickups could do when

which essentially bookended the era of the “tran-

cranked to the max through a Marshall stack

sition Strat,” which ran from late 1964 until that

and tickled with some inventive whammy

time. By then, as of the winter of 1965, the clay

abuse. Up to this point, the Stratocaster had

of the fingerboard position markers had been

ascended rather steadily through the ranks of

changed to pearloid dots, and the greenish cellu-

solid-body electric guitars in its thirteen years

loid pickguard was changed for a white three-ply

on the planet, but many would argue, and

guard made from actual plastic. (For some

with just cause, that Hendrix’s use of the guitar

other minor changes in pickup construction see

was what finally punched it through into the

Stratocaster Tone and Construction.)

stratosphere.

(continued on page 248)

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 227

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 227 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 227

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 227

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Jimi Hendrix

Hendrix plays his Strat at Royal Albert Hall in London on February 24, 1969. David Redfern/ Redferns/Getty Images

T

he gear of all major guitar heroes attracts some attention, but the equipment used by Jimi Hendrix, and his Fender Stratocasters in

particular, has drawn more intense analysis than most. Hendrix played several Strats during his short time at the top, and famously also used a Gibson Flying V and SG. His supposed preference for later-1960s CBS-spec Strats over early- to mid-1960s Strats remains a hotly debated issue. Certainly the last Stratocasters the world saw him playing were CBS-era models with large headstocks, modern logos, and maple fingerboards. Among these, the white Strat played at Woodstock in 1969 and the black Strat played at the Isle of Wight in 1970 are the instruments he was most photographed with. In the early days, however, around the time of Are You Experienced and his inflammatory performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, Hendrix was usually seen playing one of a handful of pre-CBS or transition-era Stratocasters

228 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 228 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 228

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 228

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The first Strat that Hendrix burned on stage. He set the 1965 Strat alight in March 1967 at Finsbury Park Astoria in London. Andrew Cowie/Photoshot/Getty Images

J I M I H E N D R I X • 229

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 229 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 229

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 229

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Jimi Hendrix Jimi Hendrix’s 1968 Olympic White Stratocaster. Outline Press Ltd.

with small headstocks and “spaghetti” or transition logos. Hendrix

of the late-1960s Stratocasters added up to a bigger sound when

played two Strats at Monterey: a black mid-1960s model with

injected through his 100-watt Marshall stacks.

characteristic rosewood fingerboard and small headstock, and a

Perhaps the best authority on these theories is the tech who

guitar at the center of what is possibly the most legendary “Hendrix

worked with Hendrix and had hands-on experience with Jimi’s

moment” of all—the Stratocaster that Hendrix doused in lighter

guitars. British effects guru Roger Mayer not only built and modified

fluid and lit on fire at the end of his performance of “Wild Thing,” a

many of the pedals that Hendrix used, but he also worked as an

transition-era ’65 Strat, also with the early-style small headstock.

all-around righthand man and even helped select and set up

Seen little before the Monterey appearance, it had recently been

many of the star’s guitars. What does he have to say about the

customized by Hendrix, who painted approximately half of the Fiesta

wide headstock/greater sustain theory? “No, Jimi wouldn’t have

Red body white and adorned it with floral graphics. Otherwise, the

considered that,” Mayer told this writer. “All the guitars that we

standard late-’65 Stratocaster carried a short-lived combination

used were bought out of necessity; there weren’t that many

of features, including a fatter new-style gold logo with black out-

Stratocasters around [in London] in those days, and they were

line on a small headstock and rosewood fingerboard with pearloid

very expensive. Also, in the 1960s nobody paid much attention to

inlays. Another ’65 Stratocaster, a sunburst model, was also played,

whether pre-CBS Fenders were any better than CBS Fenders. They

burned, and smashed by Hendrix at the Finsbury Park Astoria. Many Hendrix-philes believe Jimi preferred post-’65 guitars

were all about the same. I can’t see a slightly bigger headstock making any difference anyway.”

for tone-based reasons. One theory is that he found the extra

Of course, the final word in all of this is that the Strats Hendrix

wood in the larger post-CBS headstocks to increase sustain.

played are iconic simply because he played them—and whatever

Another holds that the slightly weaker single-coil pickups

Strat Jimi wailed on, it was sure to make a heavenly sound.

230 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 230 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 230

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 230

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Jim Hendrix’s 1968 Stratocaster. Christie’s/Bridgeman

J I M I H E N D R I X • 231

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 231 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 231

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 231

16/7/20 5:05 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton plays Brownie with Derek and the Dominos in 1971. Elliot Landy/Redferns/Getty Images

T

hroughout his career, Eric Clapton has been an arbiter of tone, and while he has moved through several makes and models of guitar over the past fifty years, he has been

extremely devoted to each at certain periods and has inspired major guitar lust in the hearts of many at every stop along the road.

232 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 232 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 232

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 232

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Before Clapton was able to get his hands on a Strat, he wielded a red early ’60s Fender Telecaster with white pickguard and rosewood fingerboard that was a “band guitar” rather than Clapton’s own, purchased by the Yardbirds’ management as a group asset to be used by the band as a whole. He is shown here with the Tele in 1964. Jeremy Fletcher/Redferns/Getty Images

Clapton’s boyhood love was the Stratocaster, however. He remembers first being struck by the Strat when he saw Buddy Holly with one, but he became obsessed when he saw Buddy Guy play one Eric Clapton’s Brownie. Christie’s/Bridgeman

live. “The Strat had that initial appeal to me when I was a kid,” he told Rolling Stone in 2013. “But then somewhere down the road I heard Buddy Guy on an album called Folk Festival of the Blues where he was the new kid on the block playing with Muddy and Howlin’ Wolf and they’re all singing and then he just launched into this solo that killed everybody dead. Then I went to see him play and he was bouncing [his Strat] off the floor, playing it between his legs, behind his head, throwing it on the floor— bouncing it and catching it and playing—all these kinds of tricks that had been going on for those guys for a long time, everyone was up to that apparently back then. . . . I thought, yeah, this is the sound.” But finding a Strat in England in the early 1960s was not an easy endeavor, as everyone from Hank Marvin to Clapton himself remembers. With the Yardbirds, Clapton wielded a red Telecaster and

E R I C C L A P T O N • 233

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 233 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 233

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 233

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Eric Clapton

Clapton plays Blackie on stage in 1978. Richard E. Aaron/Redferns/Getty Images

Eric Clapton’s Blackie. Getty Images

234 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 234 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 234

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 234

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Custom Shop Blackie replica. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

a double-cutaway Gretsch Model 6120. He first established a must-

be a late ’59 or ’60 model, served as the midwife that took blues

have sound in the hearts and minds of other tone hounds when

into blues-rock when the star rammed it through a cranked Marshall

he took up a late-1950s sunburst Gibson Les Paul to record John

1962 combo (forever after known as a “Bluesbreaker”) and warned

Mayall Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, otherwise known as “the

the recording engineer that he intended to play loud. The result was

Beano album,” in 1966. Clapton’s exemplary Les Paul, believed to

one of the first widely chased guitar tones in the history of rock.

E R I C C L A P T O N • 235

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 235 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 235

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 235

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Eric Clapton

Clapton himself, however, was forced to evolve

time), the red ES-335 has had the longest ten-

somewhat, due to the theft of the Les Paul in

ure of any of the artist’s guitars to date and was surrendered in the 2004 Crossroads guitar auction,

the summer of 1966. After that, Clapton gigged and recorded with a few borrowed Les Pauls but, unable to find one that he liked as much as his lost “Beano” guitar, eventually he settled in with a Gibson SG and an ES-335 for the majority of his work with Cream. The SG, a 1964 or 1965 model, became famous for the paint job given to

where it sold for $847,500. The end of the 1960s signaled Clapton’s movement, by and large, from Gibson to Fender. “Jimi was playing [a Strat] while I was still playing an SG. I didn’t get to it then, but I got to it right away afterward,” he explained. But still, finding the perfect Strat remained difficult.

it by the Dutch artists collectively known as The Fool, a name also

“What I would always look for on a Strat was a maple neck

given to the guitar itself. Todd Rundgren acquired the SG in 1974,

that had been worn out,” he remembered. “That was the thing: if it

and its bridge, tailpiece, and paint job were updated sometime after.

looked brand new [shakes his head]. . . . I just thought that if it had

Despite the SG’s memorable appearance, the cherry-red 1964

all those worn-out patches, it meant that it had been well favored.”

ES-335 that Clapton used toward the end of the Cream era and

He found such a Strat for the equivalent of $400 at the Sound

early on with Delaney and Bonnie is arguably more memorable

City music shop in London on May 7, 1967, just a few days before

in a tonal sense in the ears of many fans. Purchased new by

Cream flew to New York to record its second album, Disraeli Gears.

Clapton during his tenure with the Yardbirds (though it was

The guitar was serial no. 12073, a 1956 sunburst with an alder body

more often seen in the hands of bandmate Chris Dreja at the

and suitably worn maple fingerboard. He christened it “Brownie”

236 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 236 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 236

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 236

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

2009 Eric Clapton Signature Gray and Daphne Blue Stratocasters. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

and used it during much of the early 1970s, especially on his solo debut, 1970’s Eric Clapton, and Derek and the Dominos’ 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. As he remembered, “Doing The Johnny Cash Show with Carl Perkins, touring with [Brownie] in a quartet that was quiet, funky, very, very strong—all of it hinged on the toughness of this guitar.” In 1970, Clapton acquired another Stratocaster that would become one of the most famous electric guitars of all

“Blackie,” and after 1971, Brownie served as a backup instrument.

time. “The problem was trying to find the maple necks [fretboard],”

Blackie was unique, blending elements from three ’56 and ’57 Strats,

he said. “All the models that were current had the rosewood

the modifications and repairs required to keep it serviceable over

fingerboards. They [the maple-fretboard Strats] had kind of gone

the years, and plenty of wear, sweat, and mojo from Clapton’s own

out of circulation, on this end of the scene [in England] anyway. It

hands. The guitar was heavily used, from its first live appearance at

wasn’t until I went through the States on tour that I started picking

the 1973 Rainbow Concert until its semi-retirement around 1985.

them up in pawnshops and guitar shops for a song. I’d buy four or five at a time.”

Clapton sold Brownie for $497,000 at a 1999 fundraising auction. Blackie was the star of another auction in 2004 that also

At a guitar store in Nashville, Clapton purchased six late-

saw the sale of Clapton’s ’64 ES-335 and fetched the highest price

1950s Strats and combined the best elements from his favorite

paid for a guitar at auction at the time, going to Guitar Center for

three of the bunch; the other three were given to Pete Townshend,

$959,500.

George Harrison, and Steve Winwood. This “parts guitar” he named

—Dave Hunter and Michael Dregni

E R I C C L A P T O N • 237

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 237 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 237

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 237

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

George Harrison George Harrison plays his Strat, Rocky, onstage with Delaney and Bonnie in 1969. Jan Persson/ Redferns/Getty Images

I

t’s always a little heartwarming, somehow, to recall what gearheads the Beatles remained, even throughout careers graced with unfathomable

levels of fame and recognition. They were, after all, musicians first and foremost, and the equipment used to make that music continued to be vitally important to them right up through the end of the band’s run and beyond. When both George Harrison and John Lennon acquired Fender Stratocasters early in 1965, their childlike glee was virtually palpable. As revealed in Andy Babiuk’s strenuously researched Beatles Gear, Harrison in particular had enjoyed trying a fellow musician’s Stratocaster in Hamburg in 1960 and had been beaten out by a rival guitarist in an effort to purchase a used example in 1961. His subsequent use of Gretsch and Rickenbacker guitars through the early years of the band’s success might have been a rebellion of sorts at his failure to acquire the original object of his desires: “I was so disappointed, it scarred me for life,” the Beatle said in the TV documentary The Story of the Fender Stratocaster. When Don Randall sent a representative to New York to try to woo the Beatles over to

238 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 238 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 238

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 238

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Harrison played this rosewood Telecaster in the Beatles’ famous “rooftop” concert, their final live performance, as well as in the studio recording of “Let It Be.” Legend has it that the rosewood Telecaster, constructed of the best body and best neck of two prototypes developed in 1968, was flown to London in its own seat and delivered to The Beatles by company head Don Randall himself. Courtesy Julien’s Auctions (juliensauctions.com) George Harrison’s 1964 Stratocaster, Rocky. Outline Press Ltd.

Fender mid-1964 during the band’s U.S. tour, the

As London’s legendary

effort apparently never made it past an underling

swing took a decidedly hal-

in the Fab Four camp. Yet around February 1965,

lucinogenic swoop in spring

both Lennon and Harrison decided to tap that

1967, the Beatles decided to

jones for what was then arguably the world’s most

paint several of their guitars

popular solid-body electric, and they sent roadie

to match the overriding mood,

Mal Evans out to purchase a pair of Stratocasters.

many of which would appear

The guitars were matching Sonic Blue exam-

in the Magical Mystery Tour TV special that aired in September of

ples with pre-CBS features, and Harrison’s at least

that year. Lennon blasted his Epiphone Casino with spray paint

would prove to be a used 1961

while his Sonic Blue Stratocaster was left untouched, but Harrison’s

model. Both got immediate

formerly matching Strat underwent a notable transformation.

use from the Beatle guitarists

Harrison swathed the front of the Strat’s body in several rainbow

during the recording of 1965’s

stripes of day-glow paint, adorned the pickguard with eastern imag-

Rubber Soul album—and can

ery, rather touchingly evidenced his abiding love of seminal rock ’n’

even be heard together in the

roll by gracing it with the slogans “Go Cat Go” and “Bebopalula,”

unison solo on “Nowhere Man”

and rechristened the Strat “Rocky” on the headstock. In the hands

(as noted in Beatles Gear)—but

of a nameless player this hippy sick-up paint job would today be

Harrison’s Stratocaster would

seen only as spoiling an otherwise collectible pre-CBS Strat. On

make a more famous reap-

Harrison’s guitar, it came to represent one of the most iconic images

pearance two years later

of the psychedelic era. Harrison set up the Stratocaster for slide

as a key visual amid the

from around 1970 on (following advice from Ry Cooder), and the

band’s psychedelic phase.

guitar remains the property of the George Harrison estate.

G E O R G E H A R R I S O N • 239

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 239 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 239

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 239

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Jeff Beck

2004 Jeff Beck Signature Surf Green Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Jeff Beck performs in 1973. Robert Knight Archive/Redferns/Getty Images

A

mong the several classic blues-rockers who evolved through the popular fat humbucker tones of the 1960s to more nuanced styles and sounds courtesy of

the Fender Stratocaster, Jeff Beck is arguably one of the most masterful. Where others make admittedly good use of the instrument as a whole, Beck wields the Strat’s versatile vibrato bar virtually as an instrument in itself and has taken the model as a whole to new heights of jazz-rock fusion in doing so. The British guitarist made a big name for himself right from the start, after stepping into very big shoes in the Yardbirds as Eric Clapton’s replacement, then splitting off to form the Jeff Beck Group with Ron Wood and Rod Stewart in 1967, all before he’d reached the age of twenty-five. Upon joining the Yardbirds, he at first inherited the red Fender Telecaster with rosewood fingerboard that Clapton had frequently played, which had been a “band guitar” of sorts, then set about acquiring his own, the now-famous Blonde Esquire with black replacement pickguard and sanded-down forearm contour. Come the 1970s, though, Beck became synonymous with, first, a humbucker-loaded Telecaster, then a ’54 or ’55 Gibson Les Paul that had been refinished in a dark oxblood color and had its original P-90s replaced with humbuckers. While the thick, creamy, sustaining Les Paul tones for a time seemed a Jeff Beck calling card, he was ever

240 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 240 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 240

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 240

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Jeff Beck’s array of Strats—and one Tele—backstage during a 1980s tour. Rick Gould

striving for deeper expression from his work, and he finally found it in the emotive tremors of Leo Fender’s original “Synchronized Tremolo Action.” Beck came out big time as a Strat fanatic on the 1976 album Wired, lacing the album with a newfound dexterity that would come to be his trademark and which was acknowledged by his appearance on the cover wielding an Olympic White example of his new love. For many fans, frenetic vibrato bursts of the album track “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”—a tune written by Charles Mingus as a tribute to Lester Young—best define Beck’s move to the Stratocaster. Through the course of the 1980s Beck further developed his style by dropping the pick in favor of using the fingers of his right hand to attack the strings. He recorded another of his classic Strat-fueled outings in Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop in 1989. Rather than fawning over vintage models, Jeff Beck has long favored contemporary Fender Stratocasters, particularly those with the updated two-post vibrato and stainless-steel saddles. Fender’s Jeff Beck Signature Stratocaster has gone through several incarnations and currently carries the noiseless ceramic pickups and roller nut that Beck favors.

In 1965, Jeff Beck bought a ’54 Fender Esquire from John Walker (real name John Maus) of the Walker Brothers, and Beck used it to play some of the most groundbreaking music the rock and pop world had yet witnessed. The guitar, forever after referred to as “Jeff Beck’s Esquire”—is known for its deep forearm and ribcage contours (sanded in by Maus himself), heavily scarred finish, and black pickguard. In 2006 Fender’s Custom Shop put out this limited edition replica of Beck’s famous Esquire. Fender Musical Instruments Co.

J E F F B E C K • 241

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 241 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 241

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 241

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Ritchie Blackmore Ritchie Blackmore and Deep Purple perform during their 1974 U.S. tour. Fin Costello/ Redferns/Getty Images

O

ften touted by devotees of the form as the original god of the über-metal solo, Ritchie Blackmore kept the Fender

Stratocaster in the fold when most stadium rockers were turning to the fatter tones of Gibson Les Pauls, SGs, and Flying Vs to pound their Marshall stacks into submission. First with Deep Purple in the early 1970s and then with Rainbow after 1975, Blackmore

Like so many topflight artists, Blackmore modified his instru-

established himself as the dark master of the Stratocaster,

ments considerably. He favored large-headstock, post-CBS Strats,

while also firming the foundations of a lead-heavy, medieval-

mainly the early 1970s models with the “bullet” truss-rod adjust-

influenced vein of hard rock and metal that has perpetuated

ment points behind the nut, and is most noted for giving these a

to this day.

scalloped fingerboard to aid speed and finger vibrato. Blackmore

242 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 242 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 242

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 242

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

preferred a graduated scallop, which was fairly shallow up to the

after being assaulted with the unfortunate instrument. Rather than

seventh fret and somewhat deeper thereafter. He also disconnected

destroying one of his painstakingly modified guitars, though, he

the middle pickup, which he never used; glued the necks in place,

would usually inflict such punishment on a Strat copy that would be

rather than relying on his Fenders’ bolt-on attachments; and modi-

pieced back together for further abuse night after night.

fied the vibrato tailpieces by removing some of the wood in front of

Translating Blackmore’s six-string hellfire and fury to a

the trem’s inertia block in the back of the body. After they became

20,000-strong arena crowd obviously required some gargantuan

available, Blackmore also added Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound

amplification, and all needs were ably met with a pair of 200-watt

Strat-style replacement pickups to the bridge and neck positions

Marshall Major heads, each of which ran through two 4x12-inch

of his guitars.

speaker cabs. To induce these extremely robust tube amps into early

During Rainbow’s heyday, Blackmore also took to smashing

distortion, and to warm up the tone of the otherwise bright Strats,

plenty of Strats, usually as the grand finale to an explosive set, which

Blackmore played through an Awai reel-to-reel tape recorder, which

would often culminate in a dummy amp stack bursting into flames

he set to “pause” and used purely as a preamp.

R I C H I E B L A C K M O R E • 243

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 243 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 243

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 243

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Ritchie Blackmore Blackmore tests the famed durability of his Strat during Deep Purple’s 1974 U.S. tour. Fin Costello/ Redferns/Getty Images

Ritchie Blackmore’s 1974 Stratocaster. Christie’s/Bridgeman

244 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 244 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 244

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 244

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

2004 Ritchie Blackmore Signature Olympic White Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

R I C H I E B L A C K M O R E • 245

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 245 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 245

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 245

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1969 Candy Apple Red Stratocaster. Fretted Americana, www.frettedamericana.com

246 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 246 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 246

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 246

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1969 Lake Placid Blue Stratocaster. Chicago Music Exchange, www.chicagomusicexchange.com

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 247

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 247 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 247

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 247

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

(continued from page 227)

sound all that good. Regardless, the changes mark

Following the transitional mid-1960s changes, in

the most significant turning point in Stratocaster

late 1967 Fender replaced the Stratocaster’s Kluson tun-

desirability for collectors, whatever wonderful music

ers with sets made for them by Schaller and stamped

players might have made with post-’65 guitars. The

with the trademark reversed Fender “F” on the gear

laws of supply and demand have also made early CBS

housing. In 1968 the coloring of the Fender head-

guitars more collectible than late CBS guitars, while

stock logo was essentially reversed to a more visible

the “law of Jimi Hendrix” has helped to make any-

bold black lettering with gold outline and a much bolder model name. By this point, the “late-1960s post-CBS

thing up to the end of the decade more prized than what came after.

Stratocaster” had fully arrived. In 1967 the “maple-cap”

Even so, it can’t be denied that more significant issues

neck was officially introduced (made with a glued-on

of declining quality control, driven by increased production

maple fingerboard, rather than being a one-piece maple

and an eye more on raw sales figures than the quality of the

neck as used on guitars of the 1950s). This option gives

instruments, were beginning to take their toll on Fender

plenty of late-1960s Strats more of the look of those made

quality by the late 1960s and certainly the early 1970s.

from late 1954 to mid-1959, although these lacked the dark wood “teardrop” behind the nut and the “skunk

THE END OF AN ERA

stripe” at the back, since the truss rod was installed from

In late 1971, several significant changes made to two critical

the front before the maple fingerboard was glued on,

components of the Stratocaster finally, and truly, signaled

just as it had been for necks with rosewood fingerboards.

the end of the era of the guitar in its original form, broadly

Among the more detrimental changes of the late 1960s,

speaking. Many will point to the change to a thicker fin-

however, was the move to polyester finishes

ish in 1968 as the first factory-induced detriment to the

around 1968. This “thick-skinned” fin-

Stratocaster’s tone (aside from the unquantifiable variations

ish, with its resilient, plasticky feel,

in wood resonance, variables in pickup construction, and so

was achieved with as many as ten to

forth). When the neck attachment, truss

fifteen coats of polyester paint and is

rod, and bridge assembly were radically

believed by many players to severely

altered toward the end of 1971, it put

choke the tone of any guitar that car-

the final nails into the coffin of the

ries it.

golden age of the Stratocaster.

Many of the changes made from the

In theory, the new Tilt Neck mount-

mid- to late 1960s were purely cosmetic

ing system and bullet-head truss-rod

and should not have made a late-

adjustment point could have been seen as

’65 Stratocaster “sound any worse” than, for example, an early-’64

a good thing, but their fate as signals of a guitar that was already declining in so

Stratocaster. Given how greatly guitars produced even on the same day can vary, there are certainly Strats from throughout the 1960s that sound outstanding and plenty from the pre-CBS era that simply don’t

1975 Rhinestone Stratocaster. Chicago Music Exchange, www.chicagomusicexchange.com

248 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 248 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 248

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 248

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

many other ways has fated them with a badge of dishonor,

has been made on Stratocasters constructed after

of sorts. The former part of this new neck construction

these changes were introduced, but they delineate

involved a new three-screw neck mounting with built-in

the real bottom that was finally hit in the Strat’s grad-

neck-angle adjustment plate that allowed the player or

ual decline.

repairman to effect slight changes in the “tilt” of the neck without having to remove it to place a thin shim under the end, as the job was previously achieved.

RETURN TO QUALITY In 1985, William Schultz, then president of Fender

Accompanying this device was a newly designed truss

Musical Instruments, along with Dan Smith and a team of

rod with a bullet-shaped adjustment nut protruding at

other Fender managers and investors, rescued the Fender

the headstock end of the neck, just behind the nut. The

brand from near extinction under CBS. Under this new

“bullet head” was far more accessible than the previous

leadership, a newly revitalized Fender Musical Instruments

adjustment point, at the heel end (guitar end) of the neck,

Corporation went about building the brand back into one

but was considered “ugly” by many players and, well, just

of the most successful musical instrument manufacturers

different from “the classic Stratocaster.”

in the world, and restored the renowned Fender quality of

The second major change was arguably more sig-

the ’50s and early ’60s along with it.

nificant from a sonic standpoint, in that it altered the

Several contemporary and modified Stratocasters pro-

mass and material of the critical anchor points of the

liferated and found their fans thanks to ever-increasing

strings. In late 1971 Fender entirely reconfigured the

(or call it “returning”) quality and a stronger and stron-

original Synchronized Tremolo system, retaining what

ger brand. The guitars like the American Vintage Reissue

outwardly might have appeared to be

Series, the Custom Shop Time Machine series—with

a similar design but constructed of

their characterful, distressed Relic models—and even

entirely different materials. The

the Japanese and Mexican-made guitars produced in the

rolled-steel inertia block, so key to

image of models from the early to mid-

retaining satisfactory sustain in Leo

1950s or early 1960s continue to

Fender and Freddie Tavares’s origi-

form the main image in our collec-

nal design, was changed for a block

tive notion of what “a Stratocaster”

of die-cast Mazak, an alloy of zinc,

is or should be. If the Stratocaster is

aluminum, magnesium, and copper.

the world’s most influential, and most

At the same time, the individual bridge

copied, electric guitar, Fender is once

saddles were changed from bent steel to

again its most successful reinventor, and

die-cast Mazak. The lesser density of the Mazak, when compared to the

the future of Leo’s grand design seems more ensured than ever before.

steel of the previous components, brought a real change to the Stratocaster’s tone, which many describe as giving it a “thinner,” “lighter,” or “brighter” voice. Once again, it’s worth acknowledging that plenty of great music

2012 Custom Shop 1956 Melon Candy Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 249

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 249 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 249

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 249

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

David Gilmour

Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd performs at the Miller Strat Pack concert on September 23, 2004, at Black Island Studios in London. Jo Hale/Getty Images

S

ome are born with great guitars, while others have great

several prototypes made in 1953), but it is not actually the first Strat

guitars thrust upon them. So it was, to some extent at least

made, as the serial number implies. Gilmour’s Stratocaster wears

(and with Shakespeare’s forgiveness), with David Gilmour, who

a nonstandard finish that is sometimes referred to as Desert Sand

made plenty of standout music with Pink Floyd on other instruments

or faded Olympic White, but is not quite like either of those two

before acquiring a certain 1954 Strat toward the end of the 1970s.

later Fender custom colors. It also has a gold-plated vibrato unit and

Historic in its own right, now doubly iconic for its use on several

jack plate and a gold-colored anodized aluminum pick-guard like

classic Pink Floyd recordings, Gilmour’s 1954 Stratocaster carries

those that would later appear on the Musicmaster, Duo-Sonic, and

the serial number 0001 on its neck plate.

Jazzmaster. The common wisdom in vintage-Fender camps is that

This ’54 Stratocaster, with a neck made in June of that

the eye-catching serial number was used to denote a special-order

year and a body dated in September, is certainly an early one

model, indicating this perhaps was the first Stratocaster with gold-

(the Stratocaster was first released early in 1954 following

plated hardware. In any case, Stratocasters made before Gilmour’s

250 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 250 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 250

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 250

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

have been seen wearing higher numbers, so the 0001 most likely wasn’t intended to denote the guitar’s chronology—at least not among all Strats. Gilmour’s 0001 Strat followed a rather circuitous route into his loving hands. Owned at one time by pickup maker Seymour Duncan, the Strat was purchased by Pink Floyd guitar tech Phil Taylor in the mid-1970s for a reported $900. A couple of years later, Gilmour pried the instrument from Taylor by offering the tech the cash he was seeking toward the down payment on a house. The 1954 Strat was often used in the studio from around 1977 onward on several Pink Floyd recordings and on work Gilmour did for Paul McCartney and Brian Ferry. One of the easiest ways to see and hear it simultaneously, though, is to watch the video of the fiftieth anniversary concert for the Fender Stratocaster filmed at Wembley Arena, London, in 2004, when Gilmour picked up this legendary guitar for live

2008 David Gilmour Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

renditions of “Coming Back to Life” and “Marooned.”

D AV I D G I L M O U R • 251

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 251 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 251

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 251

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Rory Gallagher

Rory Gallagher’s 1961 Stratocaster, Vox AC-30 amplifier, and Dallas Rangemaster treble booster. Joby Sessions/ Guitarist Magazine/Getty Images

252 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 252 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 252

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 252

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

A

mid all the battered Strats that have made their marks

who made this his main instrument throughout his career.

in the annals of the electric guitar, Rory Gallagher’s

Mike Eldred, the head of Fender’s Custom Shop, who exam-

leaves a bolder impression than most. This road-worn 1961

ined the original item in the course of creating Fender’s Rory

Stratocaster epitomizes the instrument of the hard-traveling,

Gallagher Tribute Stratocaster, relates that there were many

hard-playing, hard-living blues rocker and will eternally remain

further modifications under the hood, too. “Inside it was pretty

associated with the late Irish musician. When Gallagher bought

trashed. Replaced wood, bad wiring job, bits of rubber. It was a

this guitar in 1963, it was not only the first Stratocaster he

mess,” Eldred told Patrick Kennedy for Strat Collector in 2004.

had ever seen, but it was believed to have been the first Strat

The most notable aspect of Gallagher’s ’61 Strat’s decay,

imported into Ireland. It was ordered for another local guitarist

however, was not the result of abuse (Gallagher doted on the

who thought he was buying a red Stratocaster and decided to

instrument and cared for it lovingly), but of its owner’s body

pass it along to Gallagher when it turned out to be a

chemistry. According to brother Donal, who now owns the gui-

Sunburst model instead. A fortuitous decision: Rory

tar, Rory had a rare blood type that gave his sweat extremely

Gallagher and this passed-over Strat produced a

acidic properties. Gallagher sweated a lot in the course of any

mountain of fiery, emotive blues and helped to

performance, and his Strat’s sunburst finish paid

establish a Fender-based blues-rock tone that is

the price. The amount of bare wood on this leg-

idolized to this day.

endary ’61 Stratocaster has helped propagate

In addition to its famous disappearing finish,

the belief that guitars with thinner (or no) finishes

Gallagher’s Strat shows evidence of the wear and

resonate more freely and have a better tone than

tear that will overcome any hard-gigged elec-

those with thick, nonbreathable finishes. There

tric guitar. Its replaced tuners (mismatched,

might be something to this theory, but it’s also

with five Sperzels and one Gotoh), single

a reasonable assumption that the magic that

white-plastic fingerboard dot in place of one

Rory Gallagher and his battered Strat made

absent clay twelfth-fret marker, rewound

together had less to do with absent lacquer

pickups, and replaced potentiometers are all

than it did with the artist’s unchained heart,

repairs of pure necessity, undertaken by an artist

head, and hands. 2004 Rory Gallagher Tribute Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

R O R Y G A L L A G H E R • 253

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 253 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 253

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 253

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Robbie Robertson

Robbie Robertson’s bronzed 1954 Stratocaster that he played at The Last Waltz. Rick Gould

Robbie Robertson of the Band plays alongside Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden on January 29, 1974. Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns/Getty Images

M

usic fans who are unfamiliar with the intricacies of Robbie Robertson’s career tend to know him primarily as the guitarist with the Band and Bob Dylan, and

to picture him, if at all, with the odd monster of a Stratocaster that he wielded in much of the concert documentary The Last Waltz. Dig just a little deeper, though, and you quickly find that this understated artist boasts a career that stretches virtually from the roots of rock ’n’ roll to span many of the high points in the history of popular music. At age seventeen, Robertson joined formative rock ’n’ roller Ronnie Hawkins and his band, the Hawks, in 1960 and toured the United States and Canada with the outfit until 1964. After a brief stint on their own, Robertson and the Hawks—which included Levon Helm,

254 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 254 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 254

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 254

16/7/20 5:06 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“I’ve had this souped-up old Stratocaster quite a while. It has number 0254 on the back. You can tell it’s old ’cause the neck’s a little thick. Before I used it in The Last Waltz, I had it bronzed, like baby shoes. That gave it a very thick, sturdy sound. A Stratocaster has three pickups: I had the one in the middle moved to the back with the other and tied them together. They have a different sound when they’re tied together, and I don’t like having a pickup in the middle, where you pick. I’ve got a Washburn whammy bar on that guitar.”

—Robert Robertson, Musician, 1987

headstock, and its 254 serial number might suggest an older guitar from 1954. While he used this freshly bronzed pre-CBS Stratocaster throughout much of The Last Waltz, the bronze shell, in addition to giving it “a very thick, sturdy sound,” also added considerable weight. At times, Roberts lightened the load by switching to what appears to be a ’57 Stratocaster in two-tone sunburst, although it’s unclear whether this was his guitar or Bob Dylan’s (certainly Dylan plays it on the finale, “I Shall Be Released”). Robertson later added a “double-locking” Washburn vibrato unit to the Stratocaster, taking Garth Hudson, Rick Danko, and Richard Manuel—signed on as Bob

it even further from its Leo-certified origins.

Dylan’s backup band in 1965, and upon signing to Capitol Records

Bronze Strats aside, Robertson’s wry, spare playing style has

in 1967 as a band in their own right, changed their name to the

made him a true guitarist of note, and he has been admired by many

Band. They released several successful albums of their own into the

prominent names in the music industry, in addition to legions of

middle of the following decade, while returning time and again to

fans, for his rootsy tone and tasteful fills. Turning once again to the

their collaboration with Dylan.

live documentary film, there are few better examples of his sound,

Known as more of a Telecaster player through the early years

or his musicality, than the performances on “The Night They Drove

of the Band, Robertson acquired a pre-CBS Stratocaster along

Old Dixie Down,” “Ophelia,” and “The Weight,” the latter a Band

the way, took to playing it more frequently, and decided to have

classic, written by Robertson himself. Fender issued a Custom Shop

it bronzed as a sort of monument in honor of the Band’s final con-

Robbie Robertson Stratocaster available in the artist’s preferred

cert together, documented by Martin Scorsese in the film The Last

Moonburst finish as well as a lacquer-based bronze, and he has

Waltz. Robertson has often said this guitar was a 1958 Stratocaster,

been seen playing one of two Fender Custom Shop Strats decorated

although the thicker neck profile, the round string guide on the

by the Apache artist Darren Vigil Gray.

R O B B I E R O B E R T S O N • 255

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 255 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 255

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 255

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Wayne Kramer

2010 Wayne Kramer Signature Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

T

he MC5 roared out of 1960s Detroit like a big-block V8 with open headers. Fueled by the twin guitars of Wayne Kramer and Fred “Sonic” Smith, their

supercharged take on rock ’n’ roll mixed garage, R&B, and psychedelia, with a boost of Sun Ra for good measure, and pushed the contemporary boundaries of volume and furor to the redline. The MC5 was also known for their political leanings and were one of the only bands of the era to talk the talk and walk the walk, holding the Grant Park stage in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic convention, for example, and escaping moments before the Chicago PD took over proceedings. (Rumor has it the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, though billed, were no-shows.) Given their antiestablishment leanings, it might seem odd to some that Kramer’s most iconic guitar was this “Stars and Stripes” Stratocaster, though as the guitarist explained upon Fender’s release in 2011 of a heavily relic’d Signature Series model (complete with its “This tool kills hate” neckplate), “When I painted the guitar with this motif it was really to claim my patriotism in spite of what the country was doing at the time.”

256 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 256 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 256

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 256

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Wayne Kramer bends a note on his trademark Strat while performing with MC5 in Mount Clemens, Michigan, in 1969. From left, drummer Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson, Kramer, Fred “Sonic” Smith, and Rob Tyner. Leni Sinclair/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Little is known of the original guitar, other than the fact that it’s

in 1975 (an incident immortalized in The Clash’s “Jail Guitar

a CBS-era instrument and must have been fairly new when Kramer

Doors”). Upon release he formed the abortive Gang War with

acquired it. Given its new vintage and the MC5’s balls-out sonic

Johnny Thunders before going on to enjoy a solo career and

assault, it doesn’t seem a stretch to assume that Kramer—who also

work scoring television and films. Over the years, he and sur-

played Epiphones and Gibsons with the MC5—had the humbucker

viving MC5 bandmates reunited to perform with members of

installed in the middle position. What Kramer has offered in regard to

The Cult, Motörhead, Mudhoney, and other acts that they influ-

the Stars and Stripes Strat, however, is that it was the instrument he

enced. Kramer has also continued to spread his political beliefs

wielded on the evenings of October 30 and 31, 1968, when the MC5

through music, including his work with Jail Guitar Doors, a

recorded the incendiary performances at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom

nonprofit that provides musical instruments to prisoners in the

that became the touchstone protopunk LP Kick Out the Jams.

United States and Great Britain.

The MC5 disbanded in 1972 and Kramer did two years

—Dennis Pernu

in federal prison for selling cocaine to an undercover agent

WAY N E K R A M E R • 257

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 257 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 257

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 257

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Lowell George

Lowell George of Little Feat at the Beacon Theatre in New York on April 7, 1978. Richard E. Aaron/Redferns/ Getty Images

258 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 258 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 258

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 258

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

F

rom his early days with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of

more common open-G, but a whole step up), slip a Sears Craftsman

Invention in the late 1960s, to the formation of his own band,

11

⁄16 socket wrench on your little finger for slide, and pump it all

Little Feat, to his short-lived solo career, Lowell George was well on

through a custom-made Dumble amplifier, and you’re there. A long

course to becoming a significant hero of the Stratocaster before his

way from “off-the-shelf Strat” for sure.

untimely exit from the scene on June 29, 1979. Check out any of

Lowell George had at least two similarly equipped ’70s

Little Feat’s landmark 1970s recordings and, alongside that soulful

Stratocasters, one with a natural finish and another in Blonde, as

voice, George’s guitar tone stands out as one of the most distinctive

witnessed in photos and live concert footage from the era, but he

of the era.

likely owned several over the years. Not all had the Tele pickup or

When George told Guitar Player interviewer Dan Kening in 1976

the Alembic preamp at all times, but they tended to evolve toward

that he always preferred “to buy a stock guitar so if it gets stolen I

that ideal as he carted them out on the road and back into the

can replace it easily,” that really only told a fraction of the story of

studio again. The tone that this mighty concoction brought forth

what went into creating that distinctive voice. Having had several

might arguably best be heard on Little Feat’s live album from 1978,

guitars stolen on the road, George had taken to buying standard,

Waiting for Columbus, which eventually became their bestselling

off-the-shelf 1970s Stratocasters at the peak of his success, but

record. Dig the blistering slide tones on tracks such as “Fat Man in

the best known of these had several modifications that helped

the Bathtub,” “Dixie Chicken,” and “Rocket in My Pocket” (its girth

it achieve his signature tone. While the Strat’s standard neck

aided by some judicious delay)—and note, just as crucially, how

pickup served his mellower moments well, he put a slightly fatter

important the use of restraint, and silence, is to his playing style,

Telecaster pickup to the bridge position for extra punch, which was

too—and you know it can be none other than Lowell George. All the

given a serious goose by the addition of an Alembic Blaster preamp,

more tragic, then, that he left us at the age of thirty-four after dying

housed in a replacement output-jack plate. Add to the brew a set

of heart failure just two weeks into his solo tour.

of heavy-gauge flat-wound strings, put it in open-A tuning (like the

L O W E L L G E O R G E • 259

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 259 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 259

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 259

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Randy Bachman

Randy Bachman and his Strat power Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

T

here’s a saying among hot rodders that anyone can build a hot rod, but it takes a real man to cut one up. This old adage refers, of course, to the act of taking torch and

hacksaw to rare, vintage tin with the intention of modifying it to do things that Henry Ford never intended. When it comes to guitars, Randy Bachman is a first-class hot rodder. Though he often has been seen taking care of business with a Gibson Les Paul and is known as one of the world’s foremost collectors of Gretsch instruments, Bachman is also closely associated with the Fender Stratocaster, thanks to a guitar known as “The Legend.” Bachman, founder of Canadian rock giants the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, obtained The Legend in the late 1960s. It had already been modified a bit by a previous owner, but Bachman was fearless when it came to laying the thing down on his workbench and applying chisel, saw, and sundry other tools, all in an effort to make the guitar do what he wanted it to do—things Leo never intended. As Bachman told photographer Rick Gould: “Originally a black ’59 Strat, the Legend was stripped to bare wood. The upper horn had my name in rub-on decals as well as a round metal Titano accordion Randy Bachman’s 1955 Stratocaster, serial number 7179, that he played with BTO. Rick Gould

260 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 260 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 260

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 260

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

logo. The guitar had been modded to be a 9-string and had extra

Reportedly, the guitar also featured a swapped-in rounder-profile

tuners on it, which I took off, leaving three extra holes in the head-

Fender Jazzmaster neck and three on-off pots in place of the usual

stock. Also, the big curved part on the headstock had broken off

three-position selector, allowing Bachman to combine any two pick-

when I threw the guitar into a speaker cabinet à la Pete Townshend.

ups, including the bridge and neck units.

I also broke off the wang bar and had to redrill the tremolo block to

Bachman: “My bridge pickup was a ’50s Tele that was held to

accommodate a bigger screw-in arm that I had made by a black-

the pickguard with clear bathtub caulking, which prevented feed-

smith. It was a ‘T’ with an arm to grab over the pickups and a big

back and squeal. I had a Rickenbacker pickup at the neck for a while

one that went out back past the strap attachment. This allowed for

and then a ’59 humbucker. The last mod was three off/on pickup

extreme Hendrixian wang-bar tactics with feedback.

switches that allowed for an amazing combination of pickups—

“In the back, I chiseled out a long channel, thinking I could cre-

neck and bridge, all three, bridge and middle, neck and middle, et

ate my own B-bender by cutting out the B saddle, stabilizing the

cetera. Problem? Yes. I was too wild onstage and would hit them all.

trem block, and keeping just one spring on the cutout B saddle.

Of course the guitar would have no sound because all the pickups

Then I found out I couldn’t hacksaw the trem block, so I just left it.

had been switched off.”

“When the nut broke to pieces, I didn’t have a replacement, so I

“There’s something about the Strat sound that just rings out,”

used my mother’s metal knitting needle. It didn’t have grooves and

Bachman wrote in his book, Vinyl Tap Stories. “If you take that same

it was cool how the strings slid around for low bending. I sanded

guitar and run it through a small tweed Fender amp cranked right

and steel-wooled the back of the neck like a violin neck with no

up, you get a really great bluesy sound.”

finish, which made playing such an ease.

As for The Legend, sadly it went the way of many other

“I reversed the inny jack to be an outy, which I thought Fender

hard-touring rock ’n’ roll axes: Bachman reports that it was stolen.

always should have done anyway because it allows bigger jacks

“It would be the thrill of a lifetime to get the guitar back, but it was

and L jacks to be easily used.”

just a wreck, so unless someone knows what it is . . .” he said. “But

If it seems like all this gouging and soldering made The Legend a Stratocaster in name only, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

what a sound and monster it was.” —Dennis Pernu

R A N D Y B A C H M A N • 261

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 261 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 261

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 261

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Randy Bachman

Randy Bachman’s 1960 hardtail Stratocaster that he played with BTO. Rick Gould

262 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 262 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 262

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 262

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“There are two iconic guitars that shaped the blues and rock ’n’ roll—the Gibson Les Paul and the Fender Stratocaster. They each have their own distinctive look and sound, and because they are opposites in every way, every guitar player has to have both of them. “The Strat was and still is the most recognizable image, sound, and pioneering guitar to ever make music. The first time I saw a Strat was with Buddy Holly & the Crickets on The Ed Sullivan Show. At the same time, I got a copy of Out of the Shadows from England and saw my first red Strat. The sound had me hooked. “The Stratocaster is the most versatile and durable guitar ever made. The ability to interchange different Fender guitar necks, bodies, pickups, etc., made all Fenders in demand. No airline has ever destroyed one of my Fender guitars. To demonstrate their toughness, I have thrown a Strat off the roof of a house, climbed down, picked it up, and played it—and it was still in tune. “They are the workhorse of most guitar players. In my early days, I had a ’59 black Strat that I customized. . . . This guitar was known as The Legend by many guitarists and fans as it was the guitar I played through the Guess Who years, into the Brave Belt years, which became the Bachman-Turner Overdrive years. Unfortunately, it was stolen, and my heart still aches when I think of that. There should be a death penalty for guitar thieves! If you’ve had one stolen, you’ll agree. “I have quite a collection of Strats now. My favorite is an Olympic White 1954, serial number 0717, that sounds so clear on the top end, it’s like a pedal steel. It would not be out of line to change the “T” to a “D,” and call this model of guitar a “Strad-icaster.” The Fender Stratocaster is truly the Stradivarius of guitars.” —Randy Bachman, 2013

R A N D Y B A C H M A N • 263

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 263 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 263

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 263

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1972 Tangerine Sparkle hardtail Stratocaster. Chicago Music Exchange, www.chicagomusicexchange.com

264 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 264 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 264

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 264

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 265

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 265 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 265

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 265

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Ronnie Wood Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart front the Faces in 1974. Mick Gold/Redferns/Getty Images

P

laying the guitar with the Faces, then separately with Rod Stewart, then the Rolling Stones—with several notable side projects and solo ventures

laced throughout—pretty much gives you your choice of any guitar out there. And while archive shots of Wood in concert will often show the more unusual, arguably more dramatic metal-fronted Zemaitis models or his Lucite-bodied Dan Armstrong, a prized vintage Stratocaster has long been his go-to guitar, both on stage and in the studio.

266 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 266 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 266

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 266

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Wood and Mick Jagger share the mic during the Rolling Stones’ 1975 Tour of the Americas. Christopher Simon Sykes/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

For many years Wood owned and played an original 1955

and you quickly appreciate

Stratocaster in two-tone sunburst, with a similar-looking 1956

how much he contributes

Strat as backup. Entirely stock, the ’55 is far and away the single

to the band. Although he name

guitar most seen in his Stones performances and remained a

checks Beck and Clapton in reference to the timelessness of

major ingredient in the recording of his 2010 solo album, I Feel

the Stratocaster’s appeal, his is quite a different approach to the

Like Playing, which features collaborations with Billy Gibbons,

instrument: He came up amid Britain’s blues-rock scene of the

Slash, Flea, and several other artists. As Wood told Premier Guitar

late 1960s and early 1970s, sure, but for Wood the emphasis was

magazine while promoting the album, “I think, like wine, the

always more on rock ’n’ roll. Give him a Stratocaster and a tweed

matured sound of a ’50s Strat is more or less a stable part of my

amp and he’ll come out sounding more like a cranked-up Buddy

diet—like with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. They’re

Holly than a Buddy Guy, defining a groove that has long kept pace

just very comfortable. You get that reliable sound that comes from

with the Stones, certainly, but was also right in step with his other

a ’50s amp and a ’50s guitar.”

great British rock ’n’ rollers, the Faces and Rod Stewart. Nailing the

For many, Keith Richards’s guitar tone might define that Rolling Stones sound, but watch any Wood-era Stones concert footage

groove, nailing the tone, and nailing the vibe—and doing it, more often than not, on a Stratocaster.

R O N N I E W O O D • 267

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 267 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 267

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 267

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Robin Trower Robin Trower bends a note on his Strat in 1975. Colin Fuller/Redferns/Getty Images

N

ot unlike both Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, British blues-

As Trower told Steve Rosen in Guitar Player magazine in 1974,

rocker Robin Trower made the leap from playing a Les Paul

he was struck by the Strat revelation upon arriving early for a sound

with Procol Harum from 1967 to 1971 to being a Stratocaster

check one day in 1971 while Procol Harum was on tour with Jethro

fanatic in his solo work from 1971 on. What he did with that Strat,

Tull. He picked up Tull guitarist Martin Barre’s Strat (a guitar that

though, was quite different from either Beck or Clapton, and is

Barre had set up for slide), plugged it in, and yelled, “This is it!”

perhaps more often associated with the playing and tone of Jimi

Trower continues: “I then switched to Strat. Up to then, I had been

Hendrix than with his British compatriots. For all the Hendrix

playing Les Pauls. I always felt there was something missing on Les

associations, however—and Trower himself has frequently said

Pauls. They had a good fat sound, but they never had that ‘musical’

that he isn’t copying Hendrix, as such, but trying to carry on

sound. When I played a Strat I realized it had that strident chord.”

in his footsteps—it wasn’t his admiration for the deceased

Trower first acquired a black Stratocaster that he would later

legend that prompted his switch to the Stratocaster, but

deem “unplayable,” which he demoted to backup status, making

simply a “feel thing.”

a white Strat from around 1973 or 1974—large headstock, bullet

268 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 268 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 268

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 268

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

truss-rod adjustment, maple fingerboard—his main instrument through much of that decade. The artist dipped into the wellrespected Squier JV series Stratocasters in the 1980s and has largely played contemporary Stratocasters since that time. Whichever Strat he straps on, though, he continues to prove that a true artist will sound like himself whatever gear he chooses to get the job done. That being said, a Fuzz Face, Uni-Vibe, and Vox or Tycobrahe wah-wah (or recent Fulltone equivalents) all run through a pair of 100-watt Marshall heads might also be part of the equation. The Fender Custom Shop has issued a Robin Trower Stratocaster made to the specs of his favorite 1970s model.

2009 Robin Trower Signature Midnight Wine Burst Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

R O B I N T R O W E R • 269

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 269 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 269

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 269

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Dave Murray

Dave Murray, back right, leads Iron Maiden’s three-Strat assault at Earls Court, London, in 2003. From left, Adrian Smith, bassist Steve Harris, Murray, and in front, Janick Gers. Jo Hale/Getty Images

I

n the late 1970s, whilst acts like Zeppelin, Sabbath, and Deep

added the DiMarzio ’buckers to obtain a thicker sound. The purchase

Purple lounged poolside, content amid sacks of money, the New

and the modifications proved savvy: the Stratocaster appeared on Iron

Wave of British Heavy Metal looked to blaze a fresh trail for metal.

Maiden’s first eight albums and was a constant sidekick to Murray on

However, one guitarist in the movement’s leading band did manage

tour. “It was my main guitar,” he said, “and I played everything with it:

to bring a piece of rock history along for the ride.

lead and rhythm, clean stuff, heavy stuff. It was real versatile.”

In 1976, Iron Maiden’s Dave Murray answered an ad in U.K.

One point of debate concerning this guitar appears to be whether

music mag Melody Maker purporting to offer the Stratocaster that

it’s the same white-with-mint-pickguard Stratocaster that appeared

once belonged to recently deceased Free guitarist Paul Kossoff. After

on the cover of Kossoff’s Back Street Crawler solo LP released in

double-checking the serial numbers, Murray laid down the equiva-

1973. Some maintain that Murray had the guitar painted; others

lent of $1,400 for the axe—a princely sum for a working-class bloke.

claim that it was already black when it came to him. Given Murray’s

“[Kossoff] used that guitar on a lot of Free,” Murray explained to Gear

admiration of Kossoff and his understanding of the instrument’s sig-

Vault in 2009. “I actually saw him many years ago using it during

nificance, as well as the substantial financial sacrifice he made to

a Free performance of ‘My Brother Jake’ on an English television

obtain it, it seems doubtful he would have had the guitar painted

show called Top of the Pops. They were one of my favorite bands, and I had to have that guitar because it belonged to Kossoff.” The Stratocaster, comprising a 1957 body and a 1963 rosewood-board neck, is immediately recognizable for its unconventional H/S/H configuration. Murray reported that he

after obtaining it. After endorsing ESP and Jackson in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Murray returned to Fender in 1995, and in 2009 his black Strat with loads of provenance was honored with a Signature Series model. —Dennis Pernu

270 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 270 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 270

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 270

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Bonnie Raitt

B

onnie Raitt is one of the blues’ most respected slide players,

fingerboard, and the three-ply white plastic pickguard characteristic

and her instrument of choice is the Fender Stratocaster—

of the era. Otherwise, the ’65 Stratocaster differs little from its pre-

specifically a rag-tag and road-weary 1965 Strat, a guitar from

CBS predecessors of at least a couple of years before.

a turning point in Fender’s history. Raitt acquired her stripped

Raitt’s fluid style and sweet-yet-biting tone have helped make

and heavily gigged example, which wasn’t going to be anyone’s

her playing instantly recognizable among myriad slide guitarists.

prize, back before “vintage” Strats had much cache even in the

She tunes her Strat in open G (D-G-D-G-B-D low to high) and uses

best condition. The body and headstock had lost

a custom-cut glass wine bottle neck on her middle finger while

their paint and logos, respectively, as if awaiting

attacking the strings with a clear plastic

a refinish, and the former had taken on a ruddy,

thumb pick and the bare (though finger-

natural brown stain. The pickups remained,

nail-aided) fingers of her right hand. The

though, and the guitar was otherwise functional

seeming simplicity of many of her lead lines

and, it would seem, a tonally superior example of

belies an innate melodic sensibility and an

the breed, as Raitt has proven over the course of

ability to hit straight at the hook of the tune,

many years and nine Grammy Awards.

qualities that have helped her become one of

Other than its scruffy looks, this Stratocaster

few hardcore blues-slide players to cross over

is exemplary of the “transition period” rep-

into mainstream success. Even on her major

resented by early post-CBS Strats. It carries

hits, songs like “Love Sneaking Up on You”

the large headstock that CBS execs purport-

and “Something to Talk About,” that slinky,

edly introduced so the iconic electric guitar

sweet slide oozes in and stamps Raitt’s sig-

would be more recognizable on TV, pearloid

nature all over the tune just as assuredly as

dots rather than clay dots in the rosewood

do her distinctive vocals.

B O N N I E R A I T T • 271

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 271 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 271

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 271

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler fingerpicks his Strat onstage with Dire Straits in 1980. Mike Prior/Redferns/ Getty Images

Mark Knopfler’s 1954 Stratocaster, serial number 059. Rick Gould

F

or many people, Mark Knopfler’s tone on late-1970s Dire Straits tracks like “Sultans of Swing,” “Lady Writer on the TV,” and “Down

to the Water Line” virtually defines the sound of the Stratocaster played “clean with a little hair on it.” The source of that tone was one of a pair of red early 1960s Stratocasters that served as Knopfler mainstays through the early part of his career. Knopfler’s first “real Strat,” the one with the maple neck, was initially believed to have been a ’61 or ’62 model refinished in Fiesta Red. Its neck carried a maple cap fingerboard, which would have made it either extremely rare for its day or a later modification; as revealed by Knopfler himself to Willie G. Mosely in Vintage Guitar magazine in 2001, the artist now believes this guitar to have been a Japanese copy. It has since been sold at auction for charity. In 1977, Knopfler bought his second red Strat as a backup, this time a real ’61 with a rosewood fingerboard, and it soon made

272 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 272 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 272

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 272

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

its way into the first string. Acquired used with a stripped-natural finish, Knopfler also had this one refinished in Fiesta Red. Around 1980, though, he declared his pre-CBS Stratocaster too precious to take on the road and moved to a series of Strat- and super-Stratlike guitars made initially by Schecter, then by Rudy Pensa and John Suhr of Pensa-Suhr in California, and later by Pensa alone. Regardless, he has always remained a “Strat guy” in most fans’ estimations and has even returned to the pre-CBS fold in more recent years, sporting a genuine 1954 Stratocaster with the early serial number 059. While Knopfler’s musical adventures have segued through several avenues, it all seems to come back home to a common ground when you put a good Stratocaster in his hands. Pipe it through a brown-face early ’60s combo with just a little compression in the front end, attack the strings fingerstyle with the right hand, and set that selector switch between the bridge and middle pickups for extra quack, and it’s a tone that’ll take you “South Bound Again” every time. Fender’s Artist Series Mark Knopfler Stratocaster is based on the Fiesta Red ’61 refin with rosewood fingerboard.

2004 Mark Knopfler Hot Rod Red Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

M A R K K N O P F L E R • 273

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 273 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 273

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 273

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Yngwie Malmsteen

Yngwie Malmsteen Vintage White Stratocaster with scalloped fretboard. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Y

ngwie Malmsteen, hailed as the single-handed founder of a new classicalmetal genre, brought a distinctive new voice to the shred-rock arena when

he arrived on the scene in the early 1980s. Rather than indulging in the tapping and hammer-ons of Van Halen and others, Malmsteen displayed a fluid, legato-like alternate picking technique and an impressively vocal vibrato that enabled him to roll out neoclassical runs at breathtaking speeds. And while his early work with the bands Steeler and Alcatrazz, as well as his 1984 solo debut, Rising Force, helped him ascend the ranks of poodle-haired, Superstrat-toting virtuosi, Malmsteen did it all on a plain old (if uniquely modified) 1972 Fender Stratocaster, the first

274 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 274 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 274

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 274

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

serious guitar he ever acquired as an aspiring teenage guitar hero

Swede wasn’t the first to perform on a scalloped fingerboard (his

in Stockholm, Sweden.

hero, Ritchie Blackmore, had been using the technique for some

In 2005, Malmsteen told Hugh Ochoa of StratCollector that he

time), but his pyrotechnics on the instrument helped popularize the

first decided the course of his life in 1970, at the age of seven, while

mod among the shred crowd. Although Malmsteen now has a large

watching a documentary on the death of Jimi Hendrix. The show ran

collection that includes many pre-CBS, 1950s and early-1960s

a clip of Hendrix burning his Stratocaster at Monterey, and although

Strats and several Gibsons, he has always expressed a preference

the young Malmsteen couldn’t even see what kind of guitar was

for Stratocasters made between 1968 and 1972, largely because

aflame, he knew he had to have it. A year later, on his eighth birth-

he feels the bigger headstock improves the resonance on those

day, Yngwie’s sister gave him Deep Purple’s Fireball album and he

models. Unlike his colleagues in the genre during the early 1980s,

discovered that Ritchie Blackmore played a Stratocaster, the same

Malmsteen eschewed Floyd Rose vibrato systems (again, for tonal

guitar Hendrix had played and burned. American-made guitars

reasons), and has always retained his stock Fender vibrato units.

were rare and prohibitively expensive in Sweden in the 1970s, but

Other than the scalloped neck and jumbo frets, his ’72 Strat, and

Malmsteen eventually acquired a white 1972 Strat, and the instru-

the Fender signature models based upon it, are largely stock with

ment clicked for him right from the start.

minor modifications, including a DiMarzio HS-3 pickup in the bridge

Malmsteen created the famous “scalloped” divots in his Strat’s

position (alongside standard Stratocaster pickups in the neck and

fingerboard himself, after observing such construction on an

middle positions) and a brass nut. None of these are the high-gain

old lute that had come in for work in a repair shop in which he

accoutrements one might expect from a shredder like Malmsteen,

apprenticed as a teenager. He first tried the technique on a few

but ram these clean single-coils through upward of twenty Marshall

of his cheaper guitars, then took the file to his prized Strat. The

JMP 50s, and the setup apparently gets the job done.

Y N G W I E M A L M S T E E N • 275

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 275 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 275

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 275

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Yngwie Malmsteen

276 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 276 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 276

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 276

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Yngwie Malmsteen shows off his guitar collection. His trademark Strat, the Duck, is seventh from left in the front row. Rick Gould

Y N G W I E M A L M S T E E N • 277

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 277 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 277

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 277

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Richard Thompson

M

uch of Richard Thompson’s unique style and tone might seem to come from his transmogrification of fingerstyle

Richard Thompson picks his Strat in Leeds, England, on March 4, 2013. Ben Statham/Redferns/Getty Images

acoustic Scottish and English folk music to the electrified genre, but that shouldn’t by any means imply that this British artist can’t rock with the best of them. And while he has long enjoyed using alternative designs from smaller guitar makers, we will always consider him a “Strat player” first and foremost. Thompson was playing a mid-’60s Stratocaster when he cofounded folk-rockers Fairport Convention in 1967, but he acquired what would be his “number one” Strat in 1971 around the time of his departure from the band. The 1959 Stratocaster came into its own on 1982’s Shoot Out the Lights, which Rolling Stone magazine declared one of the best rock albums of all time. Thompson was born in the Notting Hill neighborhood of London in 1949, and he grew up listening to everything from

278 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 278 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 278

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 278

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

classic jazz and bebop to Scottish folk music. The diverse music of his childhood wove its way into the artist’s playing style even today. Listen to Thompson’s solo work on the title track from Shoot Out the Lights, or any of his standout electric playing, and you’ll hear a wiry, angular style that is impossible to define. Although he was raised on rock ’n’ roll and hit the stage himself when the London scene really was at its most exciting, both his tone and the riffs he applies it to have leaned more toward an edgily clean eclecticism than toward the heavy, humbucker-fueled blues-rock that was so many players’ stock-in-trade in the late 1960s.

and again, though, he has

In Richard Thompson, we might even hear a player whose

returned to his ’59, which

acoustic voice and playing style translates more accurately to his

was played so heavily in

plugged-in approach, including his hybrid picking style (using a pick

its first ten years of own-

between thumb and index finger and the bare tips of the middle and

ership that the original neck with rosewood fingerboard would no

ring fingers) and his frequent use of open tunings.

longer take a refret and was replaced by an all-maple neck from

In the latter part of his career Thompson has frequently turned to

1955. Thompson also plays a reissue-style Fender Stratocaster in

electrics made by California builder Danny Ferrington, which often

Sonic Blue that his guitar tech, Bobby Eichorn, assembled from

comprise clever twists on some of the basic Stratocaster specs. Time

select pieces of different Fender guitars.

R I C H A R D T H O M P S O N • 279

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 279 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 279

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 279

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

A 1960s Fender advertisement.

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 280 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 280

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 280

16/7/20 5:07 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“Smoother playing, faster action,” promises this 1957 ad.

STRATOCASTER TONE AND CONSTRUCTION

WHEN IT CAME TO DEVELOPING THE STRATOCASTER, Fender already had an excellent template

on hand in the form of the Telecaster, a burgeoning success in the country market in particular and soon on the blues and rock ’n’ roll scenes, too. Leo sought to do something quite different with the Stratocaster, of course, adding features and functionality that were gained mainly through the addition of new components, along with a few sexy new twists to the body and headstock styling. Even so, the fundamentals of the chassis—as we might call the body and neck woods—were largely in place, and functioning fine just as they were. While any guitar’s core tone might be shaped by the tonewoods from which it is constructed, it’s also worth noting just how certain newly designed components that were added to that chassis to create the Stratocaster considerably shaped, and ultimately differentiated, the sound of the new instrument. If Leo had established his sound with the Telecaster, the Stratocaster certainly attained something that would also be recognizable as “the Fender sound,” but was nevertheless quite different in its tonal fine points.

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 281 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 281

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 281

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Classic elements of the Stratocaster design are as iconic today as they were in the early days, as shown by this pair of 2005 ’70s Stratocasters. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

The simple act of adding elements such as the springloaded, semi-floating vibrato unit and a trio of similar but

the guitar’s final voice. Drastically alter any one of the above, and a Stratocaster becomes an entirely different electric guitar.

slightly different single-coil pickups to the same ash-and-maple construction changed the voice of the Stratocaster in relation

ELEMENTS OF THE STRATOCASTER DESIGN

to the Telecaster. The alteration might seem subtle in the broad

The key elements in the Stratocaster’s basic design have been cov-

scheme of electric guitar tones, but to aficionados of either breed

ered in the discussion of the guitar’s development in History of

it is significant enough to render them two entirely different

the Stratocaster, and since its basic elements were developed using

instruments. Otherwise, the ingredients in the Stratocaster still

the Telecaster as a starting point, many of these elements were

coalesce perfectly toward Leo Fender’s original goal of creating

also covered in Telecaster Tone and Construction. However, it’s

a bright, clear, cutting guitar based on the sonic template of the

also worth summing them up here, if only to point out the subtle

lap steel guitar popular in Western Swing music at the time, with

variations and differences in the models. By “design,” I mean the

outstanding resistance to feedback and better sustain than the

blueprint, as it were—specifications that are largely intangible,

common hollow-body electrics of the day. Dissect the instrument,

but nevertheless contribute to the guitar’s sound and function.

and it starts to look extremely simple: The foundation is found in a highly functional and playable bolt-on maple neck (classically

The Solid “Slab” Body

with maple fingerboard, but a rosewood ’board alters the formula

This is an obvious ingredient, perhaps, since it forms the corner-

only slightly) and solid swamp ash body (later alder), all slightly

stone of the Stratocaster’s construction, but its contribution to the

amended by its clever vibrato bridge design with individually

tonal formula can’t be ignored. Aside from the sonic properties of

adjustable steel saddles. In addition to these, one intangible

the common tonewoods used in Stratocaster bodies, which will

ingredient—its 25½-inch scale length—also makes an impact on

be discussed in their own right further along, the sheer method

282 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 282 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 282

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 282

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Slab blanks and contoured bodies back up a 2010 Custom Shop 1959 Black Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Elements of the classic Stratocaster body displayed in a bare body and a 2010 Custom Shop 1967 Aged Olympic White Relic Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

of construction of a guitar with a slab-styled body made from one or two pieces of the same wood, with minimal use of glue and lack of adornments, lends its own tonal characteristics to the instrument. It is difficult to quantify such factors, but suffice it to say that such a design allows a relatively unencumbered vibration of the wood itself, and since there is only one wood involved, it presents the pure characteristics of that wood without the complications of multiwood constructions or heavy adornments. The end result is heard in the Strat’s clarity and tonal purity, which is emphasized by other elements of the design, but is certainly anchored here. Also, while some players will talk of a Stratocaster as “lacking sustain,” they are often actually hearing the single-coil pickups, which don’t present the “fatness” and perceived sustain of, for example, a higher-gain humbucking pickup when played through the amplifier. Compare both types of guitars unplugged, however, and a good Stratocaster will usually hang in there sustain-wise with any popular set-neck, humbucker-loaded guitar you might put it up against. The 25½-Inch Scale Length Whether Leo Fender settled on the Telecaster’s (and therefore, Stratocaster’s) scale length by happy accident or by conscious design, it certainly worked toward achieving his goals for the instruments. In his lecture to the 1995 convention of the Guild

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 283

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 283 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 283

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 283

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

of American Luthiers, guitar maker Ralph Novak stated that, of

is not present in the string tone, it won’t exist in the final tone.”

all factors that affect a guitar’s tone, “scale length comes first,

The slightly longer Fender scale length also increases the

because the harmonic content of the final tone produced by the

string tension. The strings feel firm under the fingertips, although

instrument begins with the string. Factors such as structure and

the springs in the Stratocaster vibrato unit offer some “give” to the

materials can only act as ‘filters’ to tone; they can’t add anything,

playing feel to partly counteract this. The 7¼-inch fingerboard

they only modify input. Therefore, if the harmonic struc-

radius on vintage Fender guitars (the curve at which the top of

ture is not present in the string tone, it won’t exist in the final

the fingerboard is milled) also contributes greatly to the guitar’s

tone.” Scale length is, therefore, a cornerstone of design for any

playing feel and to some extent has always dictated how it was

thoughtful maker and one of the first decisions to be settled

approached. Smaller than the radius used on any other

when conceiving the voice of an instrument. The fact that

popular model of guitar, this tight circle results in more

Leo Fender settled on the 25½-inch scale seems perhaps to

curve to the surface of the fingerboard and, in one sense,

have been serendipitous, but the choice served to empha-

a neck that can feel extremely natural and comfortable

size many of the other sonic characteristics that he was

in the hand for basic open chords played in the lower

hoping to achieve with this guitar.

positions in particular. The rounder the radius, though,

Put simply, the longer the distance between bridge

the harder it can be to bend strings on the fingerboard or

saddle and nut slot, known as the “speaking length” of a

to do so without “choking out,” a phenomenon whereby the

guitar’s strings (that is, its scale length), the more distance

curvature of the fingerboard mutes a bent string and causes it

there is between the strings’ harmonic points. Longer scale

to die out prematurely. Obviously, plenty of players do bend

lengths have produced more of the sonic qualities often

strings successfully on the Stratocaster, and it has become the

described as “shimmer” or “sparkle” or “chime.” Leo copied

classic choice of several big-bending blues players in particular,

the scale length of a Gretsch archtop guitar when designing

such as Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

the guitar that would become the Telecaster, but it turns out that the 25½-inch scale length accentuates the qualities

The Bolt-Neck Construction

he was looking for. Gibson uses a shorter 24¾-inch scale

Even if the neck itself and mounting plate and wood screws

on many guitars, including the Les Paul family,

that hold it in place are all “tangible” components, it is prob-

the SG, the ES-175, and several others; in

ably best to consider the so-called “bolt neck” in theory

his shorter scale length, the tighter group-

for its contribution to the Stratocaster’s voice,

ing of the harmonic points create a slightly

regardless of the wood and hardware that

warmer tone—in short, they don’t ring

comprise it. Leo Fender originally adopted

as clearly—which itself is part of the whole

the bolt-on neck for the Telecaster in the

Gibson electric tonal profile. It so happens that Fender’s narrow singlecoil pickups, his choice of woods, the steel bridge construction, and the bolt-on maple

early 1950s, and a full discussion of its characteristics and contributions to tone are fully discussed on page 147. (continued on page 296)

neck all further accentuate harmonic clarity and high-end presence, so the total package really is working together toward Fender’s desired tonal ends. But, as Novak put it, “if the harmonic structure

1959 Blonde Stratocaster with black-anodized pickguard. Rumble Seat Music

284 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 284 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 284

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 284

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Leo Fender’s 1963 patent drawing for the adjustable bolt-neck design used on the Stratocaster as well as other Fender guitars.

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 285

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 285 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 285

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 285

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Nils Lofgren Nils Lofgren hits a high note at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California, in 1975. Richard McCaffrey/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

T

hough he released four stellar albums in the early 1970s with

natural-finish 1961 Stratocaster. As the guitarist explained to Fender

his band Grin, Nils Lofgren got his foot in the door thanks

News, “My first guitar, in the mid-’60s, was a Tele; I got it because

to sessions with Neil Young, who famously drafted the teenaged

Jeff Beck played one. Soon after that, I saw Jimi Hendrix live . . .

guitar-slinger to play piano on Young’s 1970 solo album, After the

and the Strat soon became, to me—even more than the Tele—the

Gold Rush, despite Lofgren’s lack of experience on the instrument.

instrument that I was most comfortable with, as far as having dif-

After Grin dissolved in 1974, Lofgren released a string of solo LPs before replacing Steven Van Zandt in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band in 1984 for the massive Born in the U.S.A. tour.

ferent sounds.” Lofgren has actually owned two 1961 models. The first was acquired from a friend in a trade for a 12-string acoustic. The

It’s through his appearances with Springsteen over three

more recognizable Strat, however, came into Lofgren’s hands a

decades that Lofgren’s become best known for a particular

bit later. “The other ’61 I found in a pawn shop in Berkeley when I

286 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 286 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 286

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 286

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Playing for the Boss: from left, Jake Clemons, Gary Tallent, Nils Lofgren, Bruce Springsteen, and Patti Scialfa perform at the Los Angeles Convention Center on February 8, 2013. Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images

was on the road in the late ’60s,” he told interviewer Peter Walker. “It was this ugly purple thing, but I bought it because it sounded great. I gave it to my brother, Michael, who is a master carpenter, to restore it. He stripped it and dyed it natural wood, and made a beautiful oak pickguard.” This “oakguard” Strat is also notable for its Alembic Blaster preamp unit, visible where the stock recessed output is usually located. When toggled on, the Blaster allows the player to increase volume without affecting tone. A rubber effects pedal knob in place of the traditional skirted Strat volume knob gives Lofgren the ability to use the Blaster to create swirling effects.

and Fender amps). “I’ve found that with a Fender, you can lose your

Finally, the guitar is outfitted with a Bill Lawrence double-blade

finesse and not totally lose it on the instrument, if you can under-

pickup in the neck position. Also noteworthy is Lofgren’s technique,

stand that,” he told Premier Guitar in 2009. “I like to lean into the

which involves a downstroked thumbpick and harmonic-inducing

guitar and use those five settings you can get out of a Strat. I like

upstrokes with his second and third fingers.

playing lots of different guitars, but I’ll always reach for a Strat. It’s

Lofgren is an enthusiastic Fender user through and through (on the road, he also uses a Jazzmaster, numerous other Stratocasters,

the most beautiful electric guitar ever made.” —Dennis Pernu

N I L S L O F G R E N • 287

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 287 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 287

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 287

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Jimmie Vaughan Jimmie Vaughan stands proud with one of his Signature Strats relic’d to mimic his original Olympic White 1963.

“H

e really was the reason why I started to play, watching him and seeing what could be done.” So said Stevie Ray Vaughan of his

big brother, Jimmie. What more really need be said? Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan was born in March 1951 in Oak Cliff, Texas— T-Bone Walker’s old stomping ground, on the edge of Dallas. Sidelined by a football injury when he was thirteen, a family friend gave Jimmie a guitar to occupy his time during his recuperation. From the moment his fingers touched the strings, he proved himself a natural talent. As his mother, Martha Vaughan, remembered, “It was like he played it all his life.” Jimmie launched his first band, the Swinging Pendulums, at fifteen and was soon playing Dallas clubs several nights a week. A year later, he joined one of Dallas’s top local bands, the Chessmen, which opened shows for Jimi Hendrix. Hearing Muddy Waters and Freddie King play, Jimmie focused on the blues, founding the band Texas Storm in 1969. In 1974, Jimmie formed the Fabulous Thunderbirds in Austin with singer and harpist Kim Wilson, drummer Mike Buck, and bassist Keith Ferguson. They released their debut album in 1979, Girls Go Wild, with a tough blues sound tempered by 1950s rock ’n’ roll. With the 1986 Tuff Enuff,

Jimmie Vaughan Tex-Mex Olympic White Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments

288 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 288 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 288

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 288

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“Mine is the white one that I used on all the Fabulous Thunderbird records, and I also made Strange Pleasure with it. It’s a ’63. I customized it a little bit. I put a new neck on it and back then you couldn’t get pickups so you had to scavenge them.”

—Jimmie Vaughan, 2013

the title track single, and follow-up single “Wrap It Up,” the Fab Thunderbirds found a widespread, national audience. The album became a Top 40 hit, peaking at number ten on the Billboard charts. Shortly after, Jimmie left the ’Birds to play in a duo with his kid brother, which came to a halt following Stevie Ray’s death in 1990. The duet album Family Style arrived shortly after. Ever since, Jimmie has remained a solo artist. He’s made music on many guitars, but his well-traveled, beat-up ’62 Olympic White Strat has long been his trademark instrument. That Stratocaster has had much surgery, with a maple fretboard neck and plenty of other changes to keep it alive after all its years on the road. The Jimmie Vaughan sound is a Strat through a Fender narrowpanel tweed Bassman. As Jimmie says, “You can get that sound through a Matchless and several different amps, but it’s really basically all the same amp from my perspective—they all came from a Bassman. I mean there’s always an exception, but for the most part, a Bassman it is.” —Michael Dregni

Vaughan plays his Strat behind his head with the Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1986. Ebet Roberts/ Redferns/Getty Images

J I M M I E VA U G H A N • 289

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 289 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 289

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 289

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Number One at the Oakland Coliseum Arena on December 3, 1989. Clayton Call/Redferns/Getty Images

F

ew players have done as much to establish the Fender

Patoski and Bill Crawford,

Stratocaster as the American blues machine as Stevie Ray

“He lived for that guitar.

Vaughan. Devoted to the Strat, Vaughan owned and played several,

He told me it was the only

but the name he gave his favorite of the bunch—“Number One”—

guitar he ever had that said what he wanted it to say.”

really said it all.

As much as Number One meant to him, Vaughan nevertheless

Today, it’s the guitar most associated with the late blues hero.

set about modifying it to his specific requirements almost imme-

Although Vaughan referred to the guitar as a ’59 Strat, and it did

diately. The most visible customizations included the reflective

have ’59 pickups on it, the body and neck both carried date stamps

“Custom” and “SRV” stickers he added behind the vibrato bridge

from 1962, so it appears it originated from that year. However, by

and on the replacement black pickguard, respectively, but several

the end of the star’s ownership of the instrument, it had really trans-

other alterations had more to do with the feel and playability of the

mogrified into something of a Parts-o-caster.

instrument. He added a left-handed vibrato unit, installed a new set

Vaughan bought his ’62 Strat at Hennig’s Heart of Texas Music

of gold-plated hardware, and replaced the original frets with jumbo

Store in Austin, Texas, in the mid-1970s, and it possessed a cer-

frets. The neck would actually be refretted several times over the

tain magic for him right up until his death in a helicopter crash

years—to the extent that, toward 1990, it just couldn’t take another

on August 26, 1990. Store proprietor Ray Hennig, who knew

refret and was replaced with the original neck from another ’62

Vaughan as a regular customer, told music writers Joe Nick

Strat known as “Red.”

290 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 290 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 290

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 290

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

2004 Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster and 2004 Custom Shop SRV Replica prototype. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

S T E V I E R AY VA U G H A N • 291

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 291 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 291

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 291

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Details aside, Number One is really best known for the

scratchplate—which is not to say the guitar hadn’t been mod-

huge tone Vaughan wrangled from it, which was aided, of

ified in other ways. The body had been stripped and stained a

course, by a set of pre-CBS pickups that seemed to have been

rich brown, and a scrolled Victorian mandolin-style inlay had

wound slightly on the hot side and the artist’s

been added beneath the vibrato bridge, which itself was a con-

preference for heavy .013–.058 strings, but

temporary replacement unit with die-cast saddles. Vaughan

mostly by a muscular left hand and a ferocious right-hand attack.

further modified the guitar to suit his needs. First he added the customary reflective “SRV”

If he wasn’t playing Number One, odds are

stickers to the pickguard, and then later

Vaughan was playing “Lenny,” a Stratocaster

swapped the original neck for a modern-era

he first saw in an Austin pawn shop in 1980.

all-maple unit given to him by Billy Gibbons

He was unable to afford its $350 price tag at the

of ZZ Top. Vaughan pressed Lenny into service

time, but the guitar was later given to him as a

most notably on the songs “Lenny” from Texas

birthday present by his wife, Lenora, and six

Flood and “Riviera Paradise” from In Step.

other friends who all chipped in $50 each.

Number One is now in the hands

Named in tribute of Lenora, Lenny was

of Stevie’s brother, Jimmie Vaughan,

an early 1960s Strat that carried its

while Lenny was sold to Guitar Center

original rosewood fingerboard, pre-

for $623,500 in Eric Clapton’s 2004

CBS pickups, and three-ply white

Crossroads Guitar Auction.

292 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 292 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 292

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 292

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Lenny. Robert Knight Archive/Redferns/ Getty Images

S T E V I E R AY VA U G H A N • 293

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 293 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 293

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 293

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Eric Johnson Eric Johnson performs in Hollywood, Florida, on March 14, 2012. Larry Marano/Getty Images

2004 Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

R

egarded in guitar circles as a tone freak’s tone freak, Eric Johnson is famous for such niggling tweaks as using a rubber band to hold the

bottom plate on his Fuzz Face fuzz box because he doesn’t like its sound with the standard screws, and preferring the performance of his BK Butler Tube Driver when positioned on a wooden block that lifts it above the level of the rest of his effects pedals. Most players would be thrilled with any ’57 Strat, but with ears like these, and a discriminating sonic sensibility to go with them, you can be sure Johnson isn’t likely to settle on just any 1957 Fender Stratocaster. If Eric Johnson has chosen to ply his trade for years on one particular ’57 Stratocaster, you can bet it’s a breathtaking instrument. As such, this particular maple-neck sunburst Strat has become legendary among an elite crowd and is a fitting example of everything a great Strat should be. As iconic a guitar as Johnson’s Strat might be, it’s no museum piece. Rather, it has been carefully modified to suit the needs of a hardworking and discerning professional. Johnson has the guitar refretted with jumbo wire as often as necessary to keep it feeling meaty and

294 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 294 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 294

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 294

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

playable. As Johnson explained to Dan Erlewine in How to Make

first runs through his

Your Electric Guitar Play Great!, rather than having the fingerboard

choice of ingredients

planed down to a flatter radius than the vintage 7.25-inch radius

on a fairly basic but

that Fender originally used, he has his frets milled down slightly

meticulously selected

lower toward the middle of the neck so they remain higher toward

pedalboard, including

the edges, making it easier to grip the strings for extreme bends.

the

Johnson famously leaves the cover off the tremolo spring cavity on

Fuzz Face and Tube

the back of the guitar because he feels it hampers the tone. He has

Driver, a Crybaby wah-

had a nylon insert cut from an old Gibson bridge saddle installed in

wah, a TC Electronic

the high E string’s steel saddle to soften its shrillness, a goal further

Stereo Chorus Flanger, and an Echoplex tape-delay unit. From there,

pursued by rewiring the Strat’s controls so the bridge pickup passes

Johnson selects between a pair of blackface 1966 Fender Twin

through a tone potentiometer rather than straight to the output the

Reverb amps with JBL D120F speakers, a 1968 Marshall 50-watt

way a ’57 was wired at the factory.

Tremolo head and 4x12 cab, or a 1969 Marshall 100-watt Super

aforementioned

Achieving Johnson’s famous “thousand-pound violin” tone

Lead and 4x12 cab. A mighty arsenal, yet for all this, we’ve perhaps

involves far more than just the guitar, though, and several other ele-

got to credit the player’s hands for just a little of the mighty tone this

ments of his rig deserve a portion of the credit. Johnson’s guitar signal

rig generates.

E R I C J O H N S O N • 295

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 295 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 295

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 295

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1954 Stratocaster with an ash body. Chicago Music Exchange, www.chicagomusicexchange.com

(continued from page 284) BASIC TANGIBLE INGREDIENTS We might be tempted to use the old adage that the tone of any electric guitar is “more than the sum of its parts,” and that is true in many ways for the seminal Stratocaster, but an examination of the individual contributions of several of these components does get us a long way toward understanding that sonic “sum.” Back in the mid-1950s, when the Stratocaster first came together, Fender wasn’t always aiming for the highest quality—in the pure and absolute sense—in any of these elements, but sought a marriage of good, robust performance with ease and efficiency of manufacture and repair. Fortunately, a certain unquantifiable magic seemed to reside in the results of this approach, and the pre-CBS Stratocaster gradually established itself as one of relatively few genuine top-tier classics of solidbody electric guitar tone. Body Woods The first Stratocasters were made with bodies of ash, the wood used for the Telecasters’ bodies at the time. After 1956, that timber remained in use for some Strats, mainly those finished in custom-color Blonde, while alder became the standard wood for the Strat’s body. The tonal qualities of “swamp ash,” which is harvested from the lower portions of ash trees grown in the wetlands of the southern United States, is discussed in detail on page 154. In the late 1950s good ash became more difficult to get.

finishes. Alder was cheaper and easier to come by but still of

Older, well-dried stocks were being used up, and newer timber

a more than acceptable quality, and it exhibits a strong, clear,

was often proving denser and heavier. It made sense, therefore,

full-bodied and well-balanced sound, often with muscular lower-

to save the fewer good swamp ash blanks for blonde guitars,

mids, firm lows, and sweet highs. In many ways it might be

which made the most of exhibiting this tonewood’s broad,

considered a more “open” sounding wood than swamp ash, one

attractive grain.

capable of producing a guitar with a more versatile and better-

The majority of guitars made after the middle of the decade

balanced tonal palette.

were made with alder wood, which has a finer, less dramatic grain

Guitarists sometimes have a tendency to latch onto the “first is

that worked just fine under sunburst or opaque custom-color

best” rule regarding so many issues of vintage-guitar specifications,

296 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 296 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 296

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 296

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

but it seems to make the most sense to simply declare that there

easy to repair,” and we have already discussed the characteristics

are two classic Stratocaster body woods. And while the glorious

of the screwed-on joint itself, but the wood from which these

swamp ash might still carry an air of greater romance for many,

necks were made is another significant ingredient in the formula.

you need only consider the fact that Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray

As a hard, dense wood, maple contributes characteristics of

Vaughan, Eric Clapton, and Ritchie Blackmore did most of their

brightness and clarity to the overall sound of the instrument when

notable playing on alder-bodied Strats to see how futile such dis-

used in a guitar’s neck. In addition to the goals regarding manu-

tinctions can sometimes be, in the “better or worse” sense, at least.

facture and repair, the Stratocaster neck therefore also aids Leo’s sonic objectives. Even beyond their tonal characteristics, maple

Neck Woods

necks offer elements of response and performance that encom-

The Stratocaster’s radical, revolutionary body style made it

passes both the sound and “feel” of the guitar as an instrument.

instantly recognizable even from across a dimly lit concert hall,

The immediacy of maple’s response (merged with the “decou-

but the most distinctive characteristic of the guitar’s construction

pled” effect of the bolt-on neck joint, as discussed earlier) helps to

is arguably its bolt-on maple neck. When he set out to design the

give the guitars a perceived “snap” and “quack,” along with other

Strat’s predecessor, the Broadcaster/Telecaster, this entire config-

characteristics that contribute to the classic twang tone.

uration was high on Leo Fender’s list of “easy to manufacture,

The maple neck combined with an ash body also achieves clarity and articulation. While we might think of these as characteristics of the classic electric country guitar sound—the test-bed into which the Stratocaster was developed—they also give the guitar plenty of cutting power amid more distorted tones, and enhance its distinctive harmonic sparkle and “bloom” amid overdriven sounds. Listen to the way Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Stratocaster manages to sound fat and juicy yet simultaneously crispy and articulate on tracks like “Scuttle Buttin’” or “Pride and Joy,” the way Jimi Hendrix’s playing exudes a marriage of gargantuan girth and delectable clarity on so many of his Strat-based cuts, or the multidimensional sonic complexity in so much of Eric Johnson’s Stratocaster work, and you begin to understand what this guitar can do with some overdrive behind it. Adding a rosewood fingerboard to an otherwise all-maple neck, as Stratocasters featured almost exclusively from mid-1959 until the mid-1960s, does add some warmth, roundness, and smoothness to the guitar’s overall tone. Experienced makers estimate that these enhancements typically only contribute only 5 to 10 percent or so of the overall tone. As with any ingredient, though, the picture isn’t entirely black and white. Rosewood from different parts of the world—whether it be Brazil, Madagascar, or India—also contributes to differences in tone. Brazilian rose-

The classic maple neck with a rosewood fretboard on a 2008 Custom Shop 1960 Surf Green Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

wood, used by Fender up until the early 1960s, can be dense and ringing, but some makers, like Fender’s Chris Fleming, consider

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 297

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 297 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 297

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 297

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

the combination of Brazilian rosewood on maple to be “too

high-E strings, thereby improving return-to-pitch stability when

bright.” In recent years, Fender has sourced its rosewood from

the vibrato was used. Many later guitars from the early 1970s

Madagascar.

onward carried two “butterfly” retainer clips to achieve the same

As discussed in Part I, the switch from maple to rosewood

results on the G and D string pair.

likely occurred for reasons beyond tone. Though the Telecaster

The asymmetrical, six-in-line headstock design is another

was an all-around rebel when it was introduced in the early

visual characteristic of the Stratocaster and of all classic Fender

1950s, later in the decade it’s likely that Fender wanted to bring

guitars. As discussed in Part I, the headstock design has

a more traditional look (and the lack of the smudged-looking

performance benefits in addition to creating a distinctive style.

maple ’board that came with it) to the entire Fender line, and the

Fender’s headstock design enables a straight line for each string

Stratocaster was graced with this “upgrade” as well.

from nut slot to tuner post and therefore resists the tuning instabilities that can occur when strings stick or hitch in nut slots

Neck and Headstock Hardware

from which they must break at angles out toward their respective

and Appointments

tuners on wider headstocks, such as those used by Gibson,

Since the Stratocaster has traditionally carried no fingerboard

Gretsch, Epiphone, Rickenbacker, and many others. Such

binding, no headstock overlay, and only simple dot inlays, there

“hitching” is usually compounded further when a vibrato bar is

isn’t much else to speak of as regards the guitar’s austere neck

used, which requires a smooth and direct path for the strings’

appointments, although the nut, string retainer, and tuners still

short slide through the nut slots in order to retain adequate

deserve a mention.

return-to-pitch stability. Although the straight string path was

The bone nut used from the start of Stratocaster production is one of the guitar’s few nods to guitar-making tradition. Bone is

already in line on the Telecaster, its functionality proved even more significant on the Stratocaster.

known for its resonance and sustain-enhancing properties, and as

The Kluson tuners loaded onto pre-CBS Telecasters are

an organic material, its irregularities can lead to slight changes in

another part of their classic vibe, and many players and makers

performance from one nut to the other.

will tell you that they have a slightly different “sound” than the

For ease of manufacture, Fender necks are created without

heavier replacements by Schaller or Grover, which some players

the back-angled headstocks that many others use to create ade-

added to their guitars. The design of these tuners’ back cover

quate string pressure in the nut slots. Necks are carved so that the

changed slightly over the years, namely in how the brand name

headstock sits on a slightly lower plane than the fingerboard, so

was stamped into these gear covers, from a single-line “Kluson

the break angle from the nut down to the first few tuner posts is

Deluxe” to no line (no brand stamp), back to sin-

entirely adequate, but the B and high-E strings in particular (the

gle line, and finally double line—with

only unwound strings when the guitar was introduced) have to

“Kluson” and “Deluxe” stamped on

make a much longer journey to their tuner posts. To correct for this, Fender used a string retainer, which pulled down on the B and E strings slightly to produce adequate pressure in the nut slots and help prevent a droning sound being produced from the dead lengths of these strings between nut and tuner posts. This retainer started out as the same round, slotted disc in use on the Telecaster and changed to a thinner, bent-steel “butterfly” retainer midway through 1956, with a small spacer added beneath it in 1959 to reduce the downward pull on the B and

298 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 298 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 298

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 298

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

opposing edges of the cover—by the mid-1960s. In 1967 the Kluson tuners were dropped in

1956 Stratocaster headstock with Kluson tuners. Michael Dregni

favor of Schaller tuners that were made in

that carry it are often considered, by some

West Germany to Fender’s own design, and

at least, to be from the nadir of Fender’s

stamped with the new, thicker “F” of the

Stratocaster production, although usually

Fender logo.

for several reasons other than (or in addition to) this truss-rod bullet.

Truss Rod The Stratocaster’s original truss rod was installed

Vibrato Bridge Assembly

through a channel routed in the back of the maple

Fender called its revolutionary bridge unit the

neck, which was afterward filled with a strip of

“Synchronized Tremolo,” but let’s call it what it

darker walnut, creating a look that has come

actually is: a vibrato. Where tremolo fluctuates the

to be known as the “skunk stripe.” From

volume of a signal, vibrato fluctuates its pitch, which

around mid-1959, with the introduction

is exactly what this unit did—and still does with great

of the rosewood fingerboard, the truss rod

effect. Whatever you call it, though, the bridge hard-

was installed through a route made in the face

ware developed by Leo, Freddie Tavares, and others on

of the neck, which was concealed by the finger-

the Fender team was an ingenious piece of engineering for its

board when the neck was completed. In both cases, access to the

day, and continues to be among the favorite vibrato units the

adjustment nut was found at the body end of the neck, requiring

world over even today. The vibrato’s most obvious effect upon

that the player either loosen the neck screws to raise the neck

the sound of the Stratocaster is heard when it is in use, inducing

heel from its pocket, or dig into the pickguard (usually damaging

anything from a gentle shimmer to a deep dive bomb. Leave your

it slightly) to make changes in neck relief. This would seem one

hand entirely off the “whammy” bar, though, or even remove the

factor that went against Leo’s criteria that the Stratocaster (and

bar altogether, and this clever piece of hardware still makes its

all of his creations) be easy to service, and Fender did eventually,

mark upon the Strat’s tone.

post-CBS, move the adjustment bolt to the headstock end of the

The Stratocaster’s lauded Synchronized Tremolo imposes sev-

neck in the latter part of 1971. Rather ironically, perhaps, the

eral specific sonic elements upon the guitar’s tone, and indeed

“bullet head” truss-rod design is loathed by many fans of the vin-

renders it a very different sounding instrument—in its fine

tage (that is, “original”) pre-CBS Stratocaster design, and guitars

points, at least—than it would be with the strings anchored by any of a number of “hardtail” bridge configurations (just check out the sound of the lesser-seen, so-called “hardtail” Stratocaster to hear the difference for yourself ). While the Telecaster’s distinctive bridge affects that guitar’s tone partly in the way that it interacts with the pickup suspended within it, the Stratocaster’s vibrato bridge impacts its tone in multifarious ways primarily according to how its constituent components interact more directly with the guitar’s string vibrations and body resonance. 2008 Robin Trower Signature Stratocaster with a modern version of the 1960s F-logo tuners. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 299

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 299 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 299

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 299

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Leo Fender’s 1954 patent drawing for the tremolo bridge design used on the Stratocaster.

Leo Fender’s 1957 and 1962 patent drawings for single-coil pickup designs.

300 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 300 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 300

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 300

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The vibrato bridge’s individually adjustable, stamped-steel

when you pick a note or a chord, also contribute to the sonic

saddles contribute brightness and clarity to the Strat’s tone, as

brew of the Stratocaster. You can certainly hear this when you

does the steel bridge plate beneath them, to some extent. The

play a Stratocaster unplugged, although it might be more diffi-

truly ingenious element of the design, however, is hidden under

cult to detect once you’re amped up.

all of this, in the form of the solid steel “inertia block” (or “sustain block”). Bolted to the underside of the bridge plate, and

Pickups

drilled with holes through which the strings pass (and into which

We might infer something about Leo Fender’s integrity as a

those strings’ ball-ends are anchored), the inertia block was Leo

designer from the fact that he didn’t merely rejig the mount-

and company’s brilliant means of replacing the resonant mass lost

ing arrangement of the existing Telecaster bridge pickup, add a

by the necessarily flexible coupling of vibrato to guitar body. As

cover, stick it on the new guitar, and call it a Stratocaster pickup.

such, it provides a great means of retaining adequate—indeed,

Certainly the newly designed pickups used on the Strat were sim-

impressive—sustain in a guitar that has its strings anchored in

ilar to those that the Tele carried at the time—even once you

a moving part. Stratocaster aficionados swear by the original,

stripped the Tele pickup from its bridge and base plate—but they

heavy, cold-rolled steel inertia blocks used on the guitars made

were different in enough ways to make them an entirely new

between 1954 and 1971, as well as the many high-quality repro-

unit in the Fender camp. A traditional Telecaster bridge pickup

ductions of such that are out there on the market. The less-dense,

is made from fiber top and bottom plates that form a “bob-

die-cast Mazak block introduced later in 1971, and others made

bin” of sorts that is wider than that of the similarly constructed

with softer, sonically inferior alloys, are said to thin out the tone

Stratocaster pickup (which is the same in all three positions). The

and inhibit the guitar’s sustain. All in all, though, the bridge and

wider Tele pickup bobbin is capable of holding a greater number

its original sustain block are impressive for their contributions

of turns of 42 AWG wire than that of the Stratocaster pickup, an

of warmth, sustain, and low-end solidity that might other-

average, in the early years, of around 9,200 or more turns of wire

wise be absent. These elements are crucial components of the

in the Tele pickup to the Strat pickup’s average of around 8,350

Stratocaster’s overall tonal picture, which can be characterized as

turns. The thinner profile of this pickup, and the fewer turns of

a ringing chime and jangle with a slightly silky sizzle in the highs,

wire it holds, both contribute to a notable difference in tone. It

an air of gentle compression and a somewhat scooped midrange,

might be subtle, and most players would still certainly describe

coupled to a firm bass response.

both as characteristic of “the Fender sound,” but it’s a difference

In addition to the sonic elements contributed by the bridge

worth noting.

and inertia block, the springs that help it perform its stated vibrato

Most readers will be familiar with what we call “the single-

function add considerably to the playing feel of this guitar. Bend

coil tone” in the general sense, but even among that breed of

a Strat’s G-string hard, for example, and you will note how the

pickup there’s a great variety of sounds according to shape and

bridge plate tips forward slightly. Pick an open high-E string and

design. Working from what we just explored in the Stratocaster

bend the G-string (without picking it) and note how the pitch of

design, the thinner the pickup (to some extent, at least), and in

that E dips with the upward bend. That’s a clear indication that

particular, the narrower and more tightly focused its “magnetic

there’s some give in the Strat’s vibrato, and your fingers are aware

window,” the brighter and tighter its sound. Simultaneously,

of this elasticity when they play a vibrato-equipped Stratocaster.

less coil wire wound around a similar bobbin, in relative terms,

This “give” can make a Stratocaster feel easier to play than a

also enhances clarity and focus. Meanwhile, the fact that Fender

Telecaster, for example, which has the same scale length. Many

continued to use alnico rod magnet sections as pole pieces also

players will also tell you that the sympathetic “reverberation” of

enhanced brightness, note definition, and a certain tautness in

the vibrato’s springs, set in motion by the vibrations transferred

the tone (compared, on the other hand, to a Gibson P-90 pickup,

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 301

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 301 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 301

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 301

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

which gains a certain thickness and edginess from having steel

Tele players claim they can never quite achieve the same meat

pole pieces in contact with bar magnets below the coil and a

and muscle from a Strat’s bridge pickup as they get from a Tele’s

much wider coil besides).

bridge pickup, most will concede that they’d kill for a Strat’s neck

The sonic elements of Leo’s design goals with the Stratocaster

pickup tone in their Telecaster. As we have already seen, though,

and with his Fender electric guitars in general have been dis-

there are so many factors contributing to that final tone that you

cussed several times in this book: namely, he wanted the clarity,

really can’t “fake it” through a pickup swap.

brightness, and definition needed to help guitarists cut through

In addition to the effort put into the pickups’ design, Leo

the erstwhile mud on the average bandstand or recording of the

Fender, Freddie Tavares, and the team put considerable thought

day. Having established the tonal significance of scale length,

into their placement. To some extent, the inclusion of three

body and neck wood selection, and construction methods, and

pickups might first have been largely a USP (unique selling prop-

the sonic impact of the Synchronized Tremolo bridge, it’s clear

osition) for the sales team—as quoted in The Fender Stratocaster

that the design of the Stratocaster pickups also furthered Leo’s

by A. R. Duchossoir, Tavares said, “Leo said it’s quite a thing to

ends. Hang these narrow, relatively low-output pickups in their

have two pickups now, so let’s have three!”—but the trio would

“floating” mountings in the Strat’s plastic pickguard (where they

considerably enhance the guitar’s versatility (even to an extent, as

don’t contact any resonating body wood directly), and you have a

below, that wasn’t yet fully realized). More consciously utilitarian,

bright, clear, somewhat glassy, twangy, and jangly guitar, and one

though, was the decision to slant the bridge pickup in relation

that is particularly well suited to the demands of the music scene

to the others, a trick that was already performing well on the

at the time of its arrival.

Telecaster. Tavares to Duchossoir once more: “The rear pickup

What comes across as twangy and jangly from the Stratocaster’s

is slanted for a very important reason. That was because when

bridge pickup, however, translates as warm and juicy from the

you pluck the instrument way back near the bridge, everything is

neck pickup. Move the exact same pickup approximately 4½

more brilliant, but you lose the depth. So the reason for the slant

inches forward from the bridge toward the neck, and it is now

was to get a little more vitality, or ‘virility,’ into the bass strings

“hearing” the strings at a wider vibrational arc and transmitting

and still maintain all the brilliance that we wanted.”

that as a fatter and often louder-sounding signal. While many

Stratocaster pickups were wound with Formvar-coated 42 AWG wire throughout most of the 1950s, until Fender switched to plain enamel-coated wire in the early 1960s. Strat aficionados will swear by their preferences for one type or the other, and authorities on the fine points will often declare that there is a difference in sound between the two. The thicker Formvar insulation made for fatter coils that were also, at times, wound slightly more loosely, whereas the enamel-coated wire could be packed in more tightly. Whatever the wire, though, great music has undoubtedly been made on guitars carrying

The Stratocaster’s classic controls and switch layout remains on the updated 2012 Aztec Gold American Deluxe Stratocaster FSR. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

302 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 302 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 302

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 302

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Classic features of the first Stratocasters live on today on a 2009 Custom Shop 1958 Candy Apple Red Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

pickups wound with both types, so this can get into rather nit-

As for the use of a three-way switch on a guitar that would

picky territory. In a more cosmetic alteration, if one that often

prove to offer so many more potential pickup selections in

remains unseen, Fender changed from black fiber pickup-bottom

combination, well, as Leo told Tom Wheeler in Guitar Player

plates to dark gray bottom plates around the end of 1964, then

magazine in 1978, “There weren’t too many convenient styles

used lighter gray plates from 1968 onward.

of switches back then. It wasn’t a matter of what we would like so much as . . . of what we could get.” Regardless of the implied

CONTROLS AND SWITCHING

limitations of the switch, players soon discovered that they could

The original Stratocaster switching layout, and the one honored

find the usefully funky “in between” pickup sounds of the bridge

by traditional “reissue” style Strats today, offered a master volume

and middle or middle and neck together by simply balancing

control, individual tone controls for the neck and middle pick-

the switch carefully between its intended positions. Noticing this

ups, and a three-way switch that enabled selection of each pickup

trend, component manufacturers soon offered an aftermarket

alone, but not in combination. Most players today, if faced with

five-way switch, and Fender finally began installing one at the

an incomplete complement of tone controls, would prefer to

factory in 1977.

have one on the bridge pickup at least, to tame the potentially

Put them all together—and put them together in just the

over-bright tone from that pickup, and many rewire their Strats

right way—and these constituent parts coalesce into the sublime

in that way. But “bright” was the rule of the day, and routing the

whole that we have come to know as the Fender Stratocaster,

bridge pickup straight through with a no tone pot provided a

one of the most, if not the most, influential electric guitars ever

means of ensuring maximum treble from that position.

produced.

P A R T I I I : T H E S T R AT O C A S T E R • 303

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 303 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 303

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 303

16/7/20 5:08 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Robert Cray Robert Cray and his Strat. Joby Sessions/Guitarist Magazine/Getty Images

W

hile his style is often pigeonholed as straight-up blues, Robert Cray’s music is really an amalgam of classic genres that he

has blended into something all his own—part soul, part R&B, and yes, part blues. Whatever you call it, though, most would agree that his tone is seminal Stratocaster at its best. “Every time somebody asks me about where my music comes from, I give them five or six different directions—a little rock, soul, jazz, blues, a little gospel feel. Then there are some other things that maybe fall in there every once in a while, like a little Caribbean flavor or something,” the guitarist says on his website, robertcray.com. Robert Cray was born into a musical family in Columbus, Georgia, in 1953. His family moved often to follow his father’s military career. Cray started playing the guitar in his early teens, joined his first band while still in junior high school in Newport News, Virginia, and moved to the Northwest at the age of twenty-one, where he soon formed the Robert Cray Band in Eugene, Oregon. Several years of paying dues all along the West Coast led to a deal with Mercury Records in 1982, but Cray’s star truly ascended in 1986 with the release of his third

304 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 304 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 304

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 304

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

album, Strong Persuader, which earned him a Grammy Award.

right-hand thumb rather than a pick and running it all through

Since then, Cray has gone on to earn another four Grammy

both a Matchless Clubman and a Fender Vibro-King set relatively

Awards, fifteen nominations, and sold more than

clean, with just an edge of breakup when he picks hard. Rather

twelve million records.

than using the Strat’s vibrato (he removes the bar from his own

From the start, Cray was drawn to the

guitars or chooses hardtail variations), Cray induces

Stratocaster, and for many listeners, his play-

an emotive shake in his tone, using a classic

ing has come to define the clean-yet-rich

left-hand finger vibrato, although he is also fond

nature of the guitar’s natural voice. His spare,

of bringing in the Vibro-King’s tremolo to assist

tasteful playing style enables that guitar to be

in some classic retro tones. Fender released the

heard in a pure setting, too—classy enough

Custom Shop Robert Cray Signature Stratocaster in

to make do with a few powerful, well-landed

2003, a hardtail model with vintage-wind pickups

notes where less mature players might

and Cray’s favorite Inca Silver finish, which is

assault you with a blizzard of riffage, Robert

flanked by the more affordable standard-run

Cray’s playing is a virtual lesson in elegant

Robert Cray Stratocaster.

restraint that manages to be utterly moving every time. His intimate technique is enhanced by his use of the bare flesh of his

2004 Robert Cray Signature Violet Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

R O B E R T C R AY • 305

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 305 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 305

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 305

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

The Edge

The Edge and Bono onstage during the Lovetown tour in Australia in 1989. Bob King/ Redferns/Getty Images

I

n the alternative punk and new wave scenes of the late 1970s

than any other model. As is the way with so many struggling musi-

and early 1980s, the Stratocaster was often seen as a square

cians, though, the Strats that peppered early U2 recordings weren’t

traditionalist, the conventional weaponry of classic rockers and

the prized pre-CBS models. In the early days, he plied his trade on

bluesers. As such, for a time there at least, it just wasn’t much

several workaday 1970s Stratocasters with large headstocks, three-

in favor with what you might call the “hip crowd”—players who

bolt necks, and bullet-head truss rod adjustment nuts and forged an

were taking up the big names’ alternatives like the Jazzmaster and

instantly recognizable signature sound in the process. Some of the

Jaguar, the Les Paul Special and Junior, and other “second-tier”

earliest U2 photos from around 1977 and 1978 show the guitarist

electrics. In using a 1970s Stratocaster to log many of his most

wielding a mid-’70s Stratocaster with sunburst finish, and a black

notable tones, however, U2’s the Edge (a.k.a. Dave Evans) helped

’73 Strat was often his main squeeze through the 1980s, when the

drag this seminal Fender toward indie’s cutting edge, making it

’76 Gibson Explorer was resting. The Stratocaster’s bright, glassy

once again acceptable to a younger, up-and-coming generation.

cutting power can certainly be heard amid

While the Edge is reported to own more than two hundred

the whirl of the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe

guitars and commonly takes more than forty on tour at any

Memory Man delay pedal and Vox AC30 of

time, Stratocasters take up a bigger chunk of his collection

the early recordings.

306 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 306 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 306

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 306

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

One of the Edge’s vintage Strats, backstage on tour. Rick Gould

Where the Stratocaster had previously been known primarily as a

sense. Listen, for example, to his churning, bouncing performance

lead instrument, the Edge took its percussive rhythmic capabilities to

on “Where the Streets Have No Name” from 1987’s The Joshua Tree,

new heights. Neither a “lead” nor a “rhythm” player, per se, he estab-

and hear how well Leo Fender’s goal for a “bright, cutting” tone works

lished a rhythmic momentum on the instrument that allowed U2’s

in a context he could in no way have envisioned when designing the

early songs, in particular, to display plenty of air and space, while

guitar in 1953 and 1954. In its own way, and for its time, it was as

eliminating any real need for solos or chord parts in the traditional

fitting a tribute to the traditional that the alternative could make.

T H E E D G E • 307

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 307 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 307

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 307

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

John Mayer

John Mayer swears by his Signature Stratocaster backstage at the Hard Rock Calling festival in London on June 28, 2008. Joby Sessions/Guitarist Magazine/Getty Images

O

ne of the leading lights of a new breed of popular guitar hero, emerging just

when it seemed that maybe guitar heroes had

forever fallen from popular music, John Mayer has proven he can hang with the likes of Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray on stage at the Crossroads Festival and still make adolescent fans swoon with his next chart-topping hit. Peel away the tabloid stories and Mayer, at his core, is really just a guitar player, and one that has long favored Fender’s seminal Stratocaster. Mayer’s star ascended so swiftly that Fender recognized him while he was still just in his mid-twenties. In 2005 the company

308 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 308 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 308

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 308

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

issued a John Mayer Stratocaster in three-tone sunburst, black,

Internet-only debut album Room for Squares to major com-

and Olympic White, as well as a heavy-relic black rendition from

mercial and critical success. The album track “Your Body Is

the Custom Shop, but Mayer launched his own career on the

a Wonderland” earned Mayer a Grammy Award in 2003, his

back of an earlier Artist Series guitar, a Stevie Ray Vaughan

first of seven Grammies earned from nineteen nominations.

Stratocaster that he purchased with money saved from his

When fully amped with Strat in hand, John Mayer has a

job at a gas station. He boasts an extensive guitar collection

playing style that exhibits classic blues tendencies, laced with

today, but still takes his signature models and con-

a versatility that signals his contemporary pop sensibilities.

temporary Strats out on the road alongside other

At other times, though, he can be far more adventurous than

newer gems such as a Custom Shop rosewood

this mélange might imply, evidenced by his collaborations

Stratocaster.

with Herbie Hancock, Kanye West, and Dead

John Mayer was born in Bridgeport,

& Company. For some tabloid-minded fans,

Connecticut, in 1977 and was raised in nearby

John Mayer might be a household name

Fairfield. His early musical skills were given

more for his romances, but music clearly

a bump at Boston’s Berklee College of Music,

fuels his fire, and he certainly helped to bring

although he left that estimable institution after

the Stratocaster back into the Top Forty nearly

just two semesters, moved to Atlanta, and

sixty years after it first hit the scene.

set about igniting his musical career. After a notable performance at Austin’s SXSW music festival in March 2000, Mayer signed first to Aware Records and then to Columbia, which rereleased his previously

2006 John Mayer Signature Cypress Mica Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

J O H N M AY E R • 309

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 309 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 309

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 309

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Sonny Landreth Sonny Landreth slides on his Strat. Jack Spencer

S

onny Landreth is famed for his slide guitar mastery, a virtuosic

together set me on my path. Looking back on it I realize that my jazz

style of slide that he usually plays on Stratocasters. He

heroes who played trumpet and my blues heroes with a guitar were

developed a style of playing bottleneck with his pinky finger, but

all seeking to emulate a human voice and to have that character in

also fretting the guitar behind the slide at the same time, creating

their playing. I think that really helped me a lot: Slide lends itself to

more developed chords, variegated sounds, and complex voicings.

that, but even more so [than fretted playing].”

Landreth is also known for his right-hand technique, combining slapping, tapping, and picking with all of his fingers.

Landreth has always been faithful to the Stratocaster. His main guitar is a 1966 sunburst Strat that’s appeared on most of his albums

Born in Canton, Mississippi, in 1951, he settled in Breaux Bridge

since his 1981 debut with Blues Attack. He also uses several mod-

in southern Louisiana. Throughout his career, he’s drawn on the

ern Strats, including a ’57 Reissue Strat with Lindy Fralin Vintage

musical traditions of the region in crafting his own, unique sound.

Hot pickups, his own Signature Strat with Michael Frank-Braun

“When I first started listening to Delta blues, I didn’t even

noiseless single coils, and his main touring Strat with a DiMarzio

know what a slide was,” Landreth told Vintage Guitar magazine

DP181 Fast Track 1 bridge pickup and DiMarzio Virtual Vintage neck

in 2012. “I had learned a right-hand finger-style approach from

pickup. “I like the idea of changing the pickups,” he explains. “I

Chet Atkins, so when I listened to the Delta players and dis-

wanted to create different colors and have different voices.”

covered a lot of them like to slide, putting the two of those

—Michael Dregni

310 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 310 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 310

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 310

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

2009 Custom Shop 1956 Desert Sand Stratocaster. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 311 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 311

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 311

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

INDEX

A

Bigsby, Paul, 40, 187, 194

ABC Records, 114

Black, Bobby, 112

Acuff, Roy, 23

Black Flag, 157

Butler, Tony, 145

Alabama Boys, 201

Black, Frank, 162–163

the Byrds, 94, 97

Albarn, Damon, 170

Blackhill Enterprises, 101

Aldrich, Charlie, 50

Blackmore, Ritchie, 242–245, 275, 297

C

Alexander, Lee, 149

Blair, Ron, 114

Campbell, Mike, 114–115

A&M Records, 83

Bloomfield, Michael, 73, 78, 78–79

Campilongo, Jim, 70, 131, 133, 148–

Anderson, Lynn, 87

Bluegrass Alliance, 153

Anderson, Pete, 138–139

Blumberg, Seth, 209

Capitol Records, 255

Anderson, Pink, 101

Blur, 170

Carson, Bill, 26, 27, 50, 185, 186–187,

Antonioni, Michelangelo, 99

Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, 197,

Arista Records, 177

201

Burton, James, 56–59, 63, 98, 104, 176, 225

149, 174

197, 198–199 Carter, Walter, 51

Atkins, Chet, 222

Boggs, Noel, 50, 184

Case, Neko, 136

Aware Records, 309

Bogle, Bob, 222

Cash, Johnny, 9, 63, 64–65, 67, 86

Bonham, John, 99

Cash, Roy, 65

B

Booker T. and the M.G.s, 73. 76, 77

the Catholics, 163

Babiuk, Andy, 238

Boon Creek, 153

Chambers, Martin, 144, 145

Bachman, Randy, 260–263

Boon, D., 156

Cherry Bombs, 153

Bachman-Turner Overdrive, 260

Bremner, Billy, 145

the Chessmen, 288

Ball, Ernie, 29

Brilleaux, Lee, 108, 110

Christian, Charlie, 39, 202

Barden, Joe, 129

Brown, Clarence “Gatemouth,” 36, 63, 74

Clapton, Eric, 28, 73, 98, 232–237, 240,

Bare, Bobby, 136

Bryant, Jimmy, 25, 45, 50, 52

Barlow, Paul “Buffalo” Bruce, 112

Buchanan, Roy, 81, 113, 148

Clark, Gene, 94

Barre, Martin, 268

Buck, Mike, 288

the Clash, 120, 257

Barrett, Sid, 101

Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, 138

Cliff Richard and the Shadows, 225

Barrett, Syd, 99, 101

Buddy Holly and the Crickets, 214–215,

Cline, Nels, 157

BBE Sound company, 29

263

297

Collins, Albert “Iceman,” 74–75, 130

the Beatles, 238–239

Burlison, Paul, 54–55, 63

Collins, Lee, 108

Beck, Jeff, 14, 73, 98, 240–241, 286

Burnette, Dorsey, 54

Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.

Berline, Byron, 153

Burnette, Johnny, 54, 63

(CBS), 12, 27–28, 28, 31, 79, 92,

Bickert, Ed, 71

Burton, Billy, 204

227, 228, 248, 249, 257

312 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 312 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 312

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 312

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Columbia Records, 309

E

reparability of, 297

Commander Cody, 112, 113

Earle, Steve, 138

string retainer, 166

Cooder, Ry, 239

East-West, 79

Cooley, Spade, 50

Eddy Kirk Band, 50

171, 204, 249, 253, 255, 269,

Cooper, Al, 135

the Edge, 306–307

305, 309

Copeland, Stewart, 124

Edwards, Dave, 201

Fender Duo-Sonic, 10, 79, 250

Council, Floyd, 101

Edwards, Nokie, 223

Fender Electric Instrument Company,

Country Music Hall of Fame, 153

Eichorn, Bobby, 279

Coxon, Graham, 170

Eldred, Mike, 168, 173, 253

Crawford, Bill, 290

Electro String Instrument Corporation,

Crawford, Ed, 157

26

Fender Custom Shop, 13, 71, 154, 168,

9–10, 12, 23, 25–26, 27, 28, 47 Fender Esquire bridge saddle, 169, 172 Bruce Springsteen and, 117, 118–119

Cray, Robert, 304–305

Electro-String Music Corporation, 70

Custom, 72

Crayton, Pee Wee, 202–203

EMC Records, 151

finishes, 63

Cream, 236

EMI Publishing, 177

fingerboards, 71

Crook, Bill, 176

EMI Records, 101, 164

introduction of, 47

Cropper, Steve, 73, 76–77, 156

Erlewine, Dan, 295

Jeff Beck and, 240

Crowell, Rodney, 153

Estes, Sleepy John, 79

knobs, 179

Crump, Stephan, 149

E Street Band, 286

Luther Perkins and, 67 name, 9, 23, 37, 47

D

F

neck profile, 62

Dale, Dick, 220–221, 227

the Fabulous Thunderbirds, 288–289

Pete Anderson and, 139

Danko, Rick, 255

the Faces, 266

pickguard, 50, 73–74

Danny Hopper and Country Spunk, 135

Fairport Convention, 140

pickups, 47, 174

Deal, Kim, 162

Fano, Dennis, 154

prototype, 42, 45

Derek and the Dominos, 236

Farlow, Billy C., 112

Redd Volkaert and, 134, 137

Dickens, Little Jimmy, 25, 45

Farndon, Pete, 144, 145

string retainer, 166

Dickerson, Lance, 112

Fender Broadcaster

Syd Barrett and, 101

Diddley, Bo, 215

bridge pickups, 174

top-loader, 70

Donahue, Jerry, 140

controls, 178

truss rod, 45, 48

Dregni, Michael, 203, 206, 209, 223,

finish, 62

wiring, 174–175

G&L Broadcaster and, 29

woods, 45, 48, 154, 155

237, 289, 310 Dreja, Chris, 99

knobs, 179

Fender, Esther, 20

Dr. Feelgood, 108–111

launch of, 48

Fender Jaguar

Duchossoir, A.R., 47, 63, 185, 187,

Mike Campbell and, 115

finishes, 72

name, 9, 23, 47, 50, 185

introduction of, 10

Duncan, Seymour, 139, 251

neck profile, 62

pickups, 173

Durham, Eddie, 39

pickups, 188

saddle bridge, 172

Dylan, Bob, 73, 78, 79, 159, 227, 254,

production of, 47, 50–51

surf scene and, 221, 227

302

255

prototype, 42

Fender Japan, 12, 31, 162, 249

I N D E X • 313

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 313 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 313

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 313

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

Fender Jazzmaster

development of, 26, 184–185

195, 249, 299, 301

fingerboard, 70–71, 158, 217

electronics, 188, 195

introduction of, 10

fingerboard, 217, 227, 248, 282

“Fender Stratocaster” (Richman), 13

Luther Perkins and, 67

finishes, 195, 218–219

Fender Stringmaster, 183

pickguard, 250

hardtail bridge, 193, 299, 305

Fender Telecaster

pickups, 173

headstock, 194–195, 298

B-Bender, 97, 115, 150

scale length, 45, 146

inertia blocks, 191, 301

Blue Flower, 104

surf scene and, 221, 227

introduction of, 9, 26, 193, 196

body, 42, 72, 142, 154–155, 158

jack plate, 193

bone nut, 166

birth of, 20

knobs, 193

bridge assembly, 168–169, 172–173

childhood of, 20

“The Legend,” 260–261, 263

bridge design, 41, 70

death of, 29

“Lenny,” 292

control plate, 42

early careers of, 20–21

marketability of, 185

controls, 175, 178–179

health of, 27

name origins, 13, 193

Custom, 72, 90, 105, 125

marriages of, 14, 20

neck, 194, 217, 248–249, 282, 284

Deluxe, 105, 165

musical tastes of, 13

neck woods, 297–298

early sales of, 25

patents of, 21, 23, 41, 48, 191, 193

“Number One,” 290, 292

electronics, 175, 178–179

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction,

pickguard, 193, 217, 302

Esquire prototype and, 42, 45

pickups, 188, 195, 283, 301–303

fingerboard, 70–71, 92, 146–147, 158

Fender Manufacturing, 9

position-marker dots, 217, 227

finishes, 62–63

Fender Mexico, 12, 151, 249

prototypes, 191

headstock design, 42, 45, 167

Fender Musical Instruments

repairability of, 297

introduction of, 9, 37, 38

scale length, 282, 283–284

Japanese sales of, 31

Fender Musicmaster, 10, 250

serial numbers, 193

knobs, 179

Fender Mustang, 10

skunk stripe, 194, 299

lever switch, 48

Fender News, 151, 286

“Stars and Stripes,” 256–257

“Micawber,” 107

Fender Nocasters, 51, 62, 178

string retainer, 298

name origins, 9, 23, 51

Fender, Phyllis, 14

sunburst finish, 195

“Nancy,” 81

Fender Precision Bass, 26, 70, 183

sustain, 190, 191, 249, 283, 301

neck design, 41–42, 62, 147, 166

Fender Sales, Inc., 26, 27, 71

Telecaster design and, 186, 281,

nut slots, 167

Fender, Leo

9, 14

Corporation, 92, 249

Fender’s Radio Service, 20–21, 25, 47 Fender Stratocaster

282 tone, 186, 188, 191, 248, 249,

body, 186, 187, 194, 197, 282–283, 296–297

281–282, 284, 297, 299, 301

woods, 194, 197, 281, 282, 296–298

Paisley, 104, 176, 177 pickguard, 42, 62, 72–73, 93 pickups, 41, 173–175

tone controls, 193, 195, 303

prototypes, 53, 104

bolt-neck construction, 284

truss rod, 299

repairability of, 42, 158

bone nut, 298

tuners, 195, 248, 298–299

Rosewood, 104

bridge assembly, 248

“Unicaster,” 264

“Ruby Slippers,” 139

controls, 186, 195

versatility of, 13

scale length, 146–147

custom finishes, 218–219

vibrato unit, 186, 187–188, 188–191,

serial number placement, 62

314 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 314 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 314

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 314

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

“smugglers Tele,” 93

G

H

Stratocaster design and, 186, 281,

Gallagher, Rory, 253

Haggard, Merle, 73, 86–87, 135, 201

Galleon, Rex, 185, 187

Hall and Oates, 159

string retainer, 62, 166–167

Gang War, 257

Hall, Francis, 26, 70

string saddles, 62

Gatton, Danny, 113, 127–129

Hammond, John, 79

sustain, 142, 147, 172–173

Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps,

Hanahou magazine, 184

282

switching, 175, 178–179

63

Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley

testing, 45

George, Lowell, 259

Thinline, 93, 105

Gibbons, Billy, 136, 292

Harris, Emmylou, 58, 97

tone, 131, 133, 141, 146, 154, 155

Gibson company, 38, 63

Harrison, George, 104, 237, 238

tone control, 48

Gill, Vince, 153

Harvest Records, 101

tone pot, 179

Gilmour, David, 14, 250–251

Hawkins, Dale, 57, 81

“top-loaders,” 70, 149

Ginn, Greg, 157

Hawkins, Ronnie, 81, 254

tuners, 62, 167

G&L (George & Leo) company, 29

the Hawks, 254–255

versatility of, 13

Gould, Rick, 260

Hayes, Charlie, 26

volume potentiometer, 178–179

Grant, Marshall, 65, 67

Heintze, Dick, 127

wiring, 48, 62, 175, 178–179

Gray, Darren Vigil, 255

Hellecasters, 140

woods, 72, 93, 154–155, 158

Greene, Ted, 71

Helm, Levon, 254–255

Green, Mick, 109, 111

Hendrix, Jimi, 9, 227, 228–231, 275,

Fender Wide Range Humbucking Pickup, 105

Boys, 50

Greenwood, Jonny, 170

286, 288, 297

Ferguson, Joe, 201

Gregoire, Bunnie, 148

Henley, Don, 115

Ferguson, Keith, 288

Gretsch company, 70

Hennig, Ray, 139, 290

Ferrington, Danny, 279

Gruhn, George, 51

Hill, Dave, 144

Ferry, Brian, 251

the Guess Who, 260

Hillman, Chris, 94

Firehose, 157

Guitar & Bass magazine, 109

Holly, Buddy, 73, 82, 197, 214–215,

Flatt, Lester, 150

Guitar Player magazine

Fleming, Chris, 71, 154, 155, 158, 297–298

Andy Summers interview, 125

Holly, Doyle, 90

Leo Fender interview, 20–21, 25, 27,

Honeyman-Scott, James, 144, 145

41, 45, 47, 195, 303

Floyd, Eddie, 77

263

Hot Band, 58, 104

Flynn, Richard, 109

Lowell George interview, 259

Howlin’ Wolf, 54, 78, 209, 233

Fox, Eddie, 204

Marty Stuart interview, 150

Hudson, Garth, 136, 255

Fralin, Lindy, 173–174

Muddy Waters interview, 10

Hunter, David, 237

Frayne, George, 112

Paul Burlison interview, 55

Hyatt, Dale, 27, 29, 47

Free, 270

Robin Trower interview, 268

Hynde, Chrissie, 144–145

Frisell, Bill, 71, 151

Guitars by Leo company, 29

Frizzell, Lefty, 86, 87

Guy, Buddy, 98, 182, 210–212, 226,

Frost, Al, 45

233, 284

Fullerton, George, 26, 27, 28, 29, 42,

I Ike and Tina Turner Revue, 208 Iron Maiden, 270

185, 188, 190

I N D E X • 315

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 315 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 315

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 315

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

J

L

McAuliffe, Leon, 201

Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats, 208

Landreth, Sonny, 310

McCartney, Paul, 251

Jail Guitar Doors organization, 257

lap-steel guitars, 9, 23, 38–39, 133, 168,

McCarty, Jim, 99

Jeff Beck Group, 240

183, 184

McCarty, Ted, 63

Jennings, Waylon, 73, 82–83

Led Zeppelin, 99

McGuinn, Roger, 97

Jerome, Henry, 55

Lee, Albert, 29, 136

McLaren, John, 31

Jim Campilongo Electric Trio, 149

Lennon, John, 238, 239

Meeker, Ward, 176–177

John 5, 171

Levine, Buzzy, 161

Meeks, Johnny, 197

Johnny Burnette Rock ’N Roll Trio, 63

Levine, Duke, 161

Melody Maker magazine, 101

Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, 109–110,

the Little Willies, 149

Merle Haggard and the Strangers, 87

Little Country Boys, 94

Metheny, Pat, 151

Johnson, Eric, 136, 139, 294, 294–295

Little Feat, 259

Mike Bloomfield and Friends, 79

Johnson, Wilko, 108–111

Lofgren, Nils, 286–287

Mingus, Charles, 241

Jones, John Paul, 99

Lollar, Jason, 168

the Minutemen, 156–157

Jones, Mick, 120, 121

Lost Planet Airmen, 112, 113

Modern Records, 203, 209

Jones, Norah, 149

Louisiana Hayride, 57

Molenda, Michael, 125

Jorgenson, John, 136, 140

Lovering, Dave, 162

Montgomery, Little Brother, 79

Julian, Richard, 149

Lover, Seth, 104–105, 175

Moore, Scotty, 63, 78, 98

Lowe, Nick, 113

Morse, Steve, 29

K

Luman, Bob, 57

Moseley, Semie, 223

Kauffman, Clayton Orr “Doc,” 9, 21,

Lynch, Stan, 114

Mosely, Willie G., 272

111

23, 29

Mothersbaugh, Mark, 144

Kaye, Lenny, 264

M

Motian, Paul, 151

Kaye, Mary, 204–207

the Maddox Brothers and Rose, 86

Mudcrutch, 114

Kening, Dan, 259

Malmsteen, Yngwie, 274–277

Mullen, Jim, 71

Kennedy, Patrick, 253

Manson, Marilyn, 171

Murray, Dave, 270

Kentucky Colonels, 94, 97

Manuel, Richard, 255

Music Man company, 28–29

Kernodle, Red, 65, 67

Marsh, Randall, 114

Music Man Stingray bass, 28–29

K&F Manufacturing Corporation, 9, 23

Martin, John “The Big Figure,” 108

MusicRadar, 171

King, Albert, 77

Marvin, Hank, 224–225, 226–227, 233

Musitek company, 28

King, B.B., 18, 63, 98, 209, 226

Mary Kaye Trio, 204

King, Freddie, 288

Mason, Brent, 160

N

Kirchen, Bill, 112–113, 133, 141, 147,

Mason, Nick, 101

Nashville West, 94

Mason, Tony, 149

National Association of Music Merchants

158 Knopfler, Mark, 28, 225, 272–273

Mayer, John, 308–309

(NAMM), 45

Kossoff, Paul, 270

Mayer, Roger, 230

Nelson, Ricky, 57, 58, 63, 225

Kozloff, Jack, 204

Mayo, John “Gypie,” 110

New Yorker magazine, 151

Kramer, Wayne, 256–257

the MC5, 256–257

Nichols, Roy, 73, 86–87, 135, 160

Kubicki, Phillip, 104

MCA Records, 153

Novak, Ralph, 146, 284

316 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 316 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 316

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 316

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

O

1954 Esquire, 154, 241

Obrecht, Jas, 55

1954 Stratocaster, 14, 27, 184,

Ochoa, Hugh, 275

200–201, 254, 272, 296

1967 Aged Olympic White Relic Stratocaster, 283 1968 Blue Flower Telecaster, 104

the Offbeats, 127

1954 Telecaster, 62, 147

1968 Olympic White Stratocaster, 230

Orbison, Roy, 115

1954 Telecaster with Parsons-White

1968 Stratocaster, 231

Owens, Buck, 72, 88–91, 138, 171

B-Bender, 95, 96, 97

Owens, Harry, 184

1955 Esquire, 37, 64

Ozark Mountain Boys, 184

1955 Stratocaster, 186, 192, 260 1956 Aged Lake Placid Blue Relic

P

Stratocaster, 30

1968 Telecaster, 28–29, 93, 166, 167, 169, 175 1969 Candy Apple Red Stratocaster, 246 1969 Lake Placid Blue Stratocaster, 247

Page, Jimmy, 14, 73, 98–99, 158

1956 Candy Tangerine Stratocaster, 12

1969 Paisley Red Telecaster, 102–103

Paisley, Brad, 104, 136, 153, 176–177

1956 Esquire, 155

1972 Custom Telecaster, 104

Paramount Records, 113

1956 Stratocaster, 31, 189, 190, 194,

1974 Stratocaster, 244–245

Parsons, Gram, 58, 94, 97

196, 249, 311

1975 Rhinestone Stratocaster, 248

Pass, Joe, 71

1956 Telecaster, 63, 139, 172

1976 Natural Stratocaster, 265

Patoski, Joe Nick, 290

1957 George Fullerton Stratocaster,

1976 Telecaster Deluxe, 105

Paul Butterfield Blues Band, 79

16–17

Paul, Les, 63

1957 Mary Kaye Stratocaster, 204–205

Paycheck, Johnny, 135–136

1958 Candy Apple Red Stratocaster,

Peden, John, 45

11, 202

Pensa, Rudy, 273

1958 Esquire, 135

Perkins, Luther, 63, 64–67, 67

1958 Stratocaster, 212, 303

Pernu, Dennis, 261, 270, 287

1959 Stratocaster, 198–199, 224, 283,

Petillo, Phil, 117, 119

284

Petty, Tom, 115

1960 Custom Telecaster, 72

Phillips, Sam, 67, 209

1960 Stratocaster, 262–263, 297

photos

1961 Stratocaster, 252

60th Anniversary Broadcaster, 143, 178, 179

1962 Sea Foam Green Stratocaster, 218 1963 Sparkle Blue Stratocaster, 219

2004 Buddy Guy Polka Dot Stratocaster, 213 2004 Dick Dale Signature Stratocaster, 220 2004 Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster, 294 2004 Jeff Beck Signature Surf Green Stratocaster, 240 2004 Mark Knopfler Hot Rod Red Stratocaster, 273 2004 Ritchie Blackmore Signature Stratocaster, 245 2004 Robert Cray Signature Violet

60th Anniversary Stratocaster, 264

1963 Telecaster, 80

60th Anniversary Telecaster, 15

1963 Telecaster Custom, 136

1940 Martin OOO–42, 21

1964 Fiesta Red Stratocaster, 219

1949 Esquire prototype, 24, 43

1964 Olympic White Stratocaster, 219

2004 SRV Replica prototype, 291

1950 Broadcaster, 46, 49, 82, 114–115

1964 Telecaster with Parsons-White

2004 Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster,

1950 Esquire, 44, 123

B-Bender, 80

1951 Nocaster, 134

1964 Stratocaster, 239

1952 Broadcaster, 51

1965 Stratocaster, 226, 229

1952 Telecaster, 13, 32–33, 60–61, 141

1966 Telecaster, 92, 133

1953 Telecaster, 31, 128, 136, 152–153

1966 Telecaster Custom, 74

Stratocaster, 305 2004 Rory Gallagher Tribute Stratocaster, 253

291 2006 John Mayer Signature Cypress Mica Stratocaster, 309 2006 Mary Kaye Tribute Stratocaster, 207

I N D E X • 317

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 317 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 317

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 317

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

2008 David Gilmour Stratocaster, 251

Plant, Robert, 99

Rieser, Dan, 149

2008 Robin Trower Signature

the Police, 124

Riverside Rancho Dance Hall, 25, 45

Pop, Iggy, 163

Robertson, Robbie, 81, 254–255

Prairie Fire Band, 135

the Rock ’N’ Roll Trio, 55

Premier Guitar magazine, 267, 287

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 9, 14, 115

Albert Collins Signature Telecaster, 75

Presley, Elvis, 58, 78, 196

Rogers, Roy, 53

Andy Summer Tribute Telecaster, 125

the Pretenders, 144–145

Rolling Stone magazine, 41, 101, 201,

Bigsby guitar, 40–41

Price, Ray, 136

Black and Gold Collector’s Edition

Principato, Tom, 113

the Rolling Stones, 266, 267

Pure Prairie League, 153

Ronson, Mick, 150

Stratocaster, 299 2010 Wayne Kramer Signature Stratocaster, 256

Telecaster, 157 Buck Owens Telecaster, 88, 89, 122

233, 278

Rosen, Steve, 268

Burton Signature Telecaster, 58, 59

R

Rossmeisl, Roger, 104

Crop Duster Special, 122

Radio & Television Equipment

the Royal Hawaiians, 184

Danny Gatton Signature Telecaster, 127

Company (RTEC), 26, 47 Radner, Gilda, 159

D. Boon Custom Telecaster, 156

Raitt, Bonnie, 271

Eric Clapton’s Blackie, 234, 235

Randall, Don, 9, 13, 26, 27, 28, 45, 47,

Rundgren, Todd, 236 Russell, Rusty, 150

S

Eric Clapton’s Brownie, 232, 233

51, 185, 186, 193, 204, 206,

Sam & Dave, 76, 77

G.E. Smith Signature Telecaster, 159

238–239

Samwell-Smith, Paul, 99

Graham Coxon Signature Telecaster,

Randall Instruments, 28

San Quentin Prison, 87

Ray, Will, 140

Santiago, Joey, 162

RCA, 83

Schultz, William, 31, 249

the Reactionaries, 156

Shamblin, Eldon, 26, 197, 201, 203

Jimmy Bryant Tribute Telecaster, 52

Real Records, 144

Shelter Records, 114

Joe Strummer Telecaster, 121

Redding, Otis, 77

Simonon, Paul, 120

John 5 Signature Telecaster, 171

Reed, Howard, 197

Sinatra, Frank, 204

Lenny (Stevie Ray Vaughan), 293

Reed, Jerry, 160

Skaggs, Ricky, 153

Merle Haggard Signature Telecaster, 86

Relf, Keith, 99

Smith, Arthur, 50

Muddy Waters Telecaster, 68

Rey, Alvino, 39

Smith, Dan, 31, 249

Paisley Telecaster, 56

Rhodes, Leon, 50

Smith, Fred “Sonic,” 256–257

Snake and Bones Esquire, 122

the Rhythm Rangers, 54

Smith, G. E., 159

Thinline Telecaster, 92

Rhythm Rockers, 74–75

Smith, Johnny, 222

Yngwie Malmsteen Vintage White

Richard, Cliff, 224, 227

Smith, Richard, 191

Richards, Keith, 9, 81, 107, 267

the Sons of the Pioneers, 53

Piano Red, 109

Richardson, J. P. “The Big Bopper,” 82

Spann, Otis, 78

Pickett, Wilson, 77

Rich, Don, 72, 88–91

Sparkes, John, 108

Pigboy Charlie Band, 108

Richman, Jonathan, 13

Springsteen, Bruce, 81, 117–119, 158,

Pink Floyd, 101

Rickenbacker company, 70, 104, 115

the Pixies, 162

Rickenbacker, Adolph, 26

170 Jimmie Vaughan Tex-Mex Olympic White Stratocaster, 288

Stratocaster, 274

286 Squier guitars, 13

318 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 318 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 318

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 318

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

the Staple Singers, 77

Trower, Robin, 268–269

West, Speedy, 50, 53

Starlite Wranglers, 63

Turner, Ike, 208–209

Wheeler, Tom, 188, 190, 193, 303

Statler Brothers, 136

Turner, Tina, 208

White, Clarence, 94–97, 150

Stax Records, 73

White, Eric, Jr., 94

Stein, Andy, 112

U

White, Forrest, 9, 26–27, 27, 28, 45, 47

Stern, Mike, 71

U2, 306–307

White, Roland, 94

Steward, Wynn, 86

White, Susie, 97, 150

Stewart, Marty, 136

V

Wianecki, Shanon, 184

Stewart, Rod, 240, 266

Valens, Ritchie, 82

Wide Range Humbucking Pickup, 105,

Stewart, Wynn, 87

Van Halen, Edward, 29

175

Sting, 124

Van Zandt, Steven, 286

Wilkins, Pat, 139

Stone, Cliffie, 53, 86

Vaughan, Jimmie, 288–289, 292

Willaford, Russell, 63

StratCollector, 275

Vaughan, Stevie Ray, 284, 288, 289,

Williams, Big Joe, 79

Strummer, Joe, 120–121

290–293, 297

Williams, Hank, III, 136

Stuart, Marty, 97, 104, 150

the Ventures, 221, 222

Wills, Bob, 201

Suhr, John, 273

Vincent, Gene, 63, 183, 197

Wilson, Don, 222

Summers, Andy, 124–125

Vintage Guitar magazine

Wilson, Kim, 288

Sundance, 153

Brad Paisley interview, 176–177

Winwood, Steve, 237

Sun Records, 209

Mark Knopfler interview, 272

Wood, Ron, 240

Marty Stuart interview, 150

Wood, Ronnie, 266–267

T

Mary Kaye interview, 204

Wright, Rick, 101

Tavares, Freddie, 9, 26, 27, 29, 184, 190,

Sonny Landreth interview, 310

Wyble, Jimmy, 50

Vince Gill interview, 153

302 Taylor, Johnnie, 77

Volkaert, Redd, 134–137, 141, 168

Y

Taylor, Phil, 251

Vollrath, Calvin, 135

the Yardbirds, 73, 98–99, 233–235, 236,

Teletext, 225

240

Tench, Benmont, 114

W

Yasuda, Mac, 81

Thomas, Carla, 77

Walker, Peter, 287

Yoakam, Dwight, 91, 138

Thomas, Rufus, 77

Walker, T-Bone, 202

Young, Lester, 241

Thompson, Hank, 50

Walker, Tom, 28

Young, Neil, 286

Thompson, Richard, 278–279

Warner Brothers, 113

Thunders, Johnny, 257

Washington Post newspaper, 12

Z

Tichy, John, 112

Waters, Muddy, 2, 10, 68–69, 73, 78,

Zappa, Frank, 225, 259

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 114–115

288

Zombie, Rob, 171

Waters, Roger, 101

Too Much Fun, 113

Watt, Mike, 157

Townshend, Pete, 225, 237

Watts, Michael, 101

Travis, Merle, 45, 136, 187, 194

Welch, Bruce, 225

Tri-Sonic company, 28

Wembley Arena, 14

I N D E X • 319

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 319 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 319

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 319

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM

1964 Stratocaster and Band-Master amp with original shipping cartons. Rumble Seat Music

DAVE HUNTER is a writer and musician who has worked extensively in the

United Kingdom and the United States. He is the author of The Gibson Les Paul, Star Guitars, The Guitar Amp Handbook, Guitar Effects Pedals, The British Amp Invasion, The Guitar Pickup Handbook, and several other titles. Hunter is also a regular contributor to Guitar Player, Vintage Guitar, and Premier Guitar magazines in the United States, and Guitar Magazine in the United Kingdom. He is a contributing essayist to the United States Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Board’s Permanent Archive. He lives in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with his wife and their two children. TONY BACON is a leading author on guitar history. He has written, edited, or

contributed to many highly regarded books on the subject, and co-founded musicbook publisher Backbeat UK. He is based in London.

320 • F E N D E R T E L E C A S T E R A N D S T R AT O C A S T E R

339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 320 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster_001-320.indd 320

Text

Title: 339912 - Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster Page: 320

16/7/20 5:09 PM 16/7/20 8:43 PM